9th May 2005 08:00
SABMiller PLC09 May 2005 Ref: 10/2005 SABMILLER ACQUIRES TOPVAR BREWERY IN SLOVAKIA London and Johannesburg, 9th May 2005. SABMiller plc announces that it hasagreed to acquire the Slovakian brewer Topvar, a.s. ("Topvar" or the "Company").Topvar is located in the City of Topolcany in Western Slovakia and sold 569,000hectolitres of beer in 2004. Under the terms of the agreement with the controlling shareholders, SABMillerwill make an offer to acquire all the shares of the minority shareholders in theCompany (40.5% interest) ("the Offer"). Depending on the level of acceptancesunder the Offer, the controlling shareholders, who have a 59.5% interest in theCompany, have agreed to sell sufficient shares such that SABMiller's interestwill be at least 33%, but not more than 49% of the issued share capital ("Initial Stake"). Six months after the acquisition of the Initial Stake, the controllingshareholders will sell further shares ("the Additional Shares") to enableSABMiller to increase its interest to at least 67% of Topvar. The remainingshares held by the controlling shareholders are subject to put and callarrangements exercisable within 18 months of SABMiller acquiring the AdditionalShares. The transaction is conditional upon Slovakian Anti-monopoly Office approval, aminimum level of acceptances under the Offer and the fulfilment of certaintechnical requirements. Provided the minimum level of acceptances under theOffer is met, the transaction will provide SABMiller with an interest in Topvarof at least 95%. The value of the net assets to be acquired is approximately US$15.2 million. Alan Clark, Managing Director of SABMiller's European division, commented: "This acquisition complements our existing operations in Slovakia andstrengthens our overall position in Central Europe. Topvar brings to SABMiller astrong local brand, an excellent distribution platform in Western Slovakia and aquality production site. The acquisition reflects our strategy of optimising andexpanding our positions in developing markets and we anticipate brand,procurement and distribution benefits arising from the transaction." Ends Notes to editors: SABMiller plc SABMiller plc is one of the world's largest brewers, with 2003/04 lager salesvolumes in excess of 137 million hectolitres. It has a brewing presence in over40 countries across four continents and a portfolio of strong brands and leadingmarket shares in many of the countries in which it has brewing operations.Outside the USA, SABMiller plc is one of the largest bottlers of Coca-Colaproducts in the world. In the year ended 31 March 2004, the group generated US$1,391 million pre-taxprofit from a turnover of US$12,645 million. SABMiller plc is listed on theLondon and Johannesburg stock exchanges. This announcement is available on the SABMiller website, www.sabmiller.com High resolution images are available for the media to view and download free ofcharge from www.vismedia.co.uk Enquiries: Sue Clark Director of Corporate Affairs Tel: +44 20 7659 0184 Gary Leibowitz Vice President, Investor Relations Tel: +44 20 7659 0119 Mob: +44 7717 428540 Nigel Fairbrass Head of Media Relations Tel: +44 20 7659 0105 Mob: +44 7799 894265 Peter Fecko Mmd Public Relations (Slovakia) Tel: +421 2 5293 2476 Mob: +421 905 213 136 This announcement does not constitute an offer to sell or issue or thesolicitation of an offer to buy or acquire securities of SABMiller plc (the"Company") or any of its affiliates in any jurisdiction or an inducement toenter into investment activity. This document includes "forward-looking statements". These statements maycontain the words "anticipate", "believe", "intend", "estimate", "expect" andwords of similar meaning. All statements other than statements of historicalfacts included in this announcement, including, without limitation, thoseregarding the Company's financial position, business strategy, plans andobjectives of management for future operations (including development plans andobjectives relating to the Company's products and services) are forward-lookingstatements. These forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks,uncertainties and other important factors that could cause the actual results,performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different fromfuture results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by suchforward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based onnumerous assumptions regarding the Company's present and future businessstrategies and the environment in which the Company will operate in the future.These forward-looking statements speak only as at the date of this announcement. The Company expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking to disseminateany updates or revisions to any forward-looking statements contained in thisannouncement to reflect any change in the Company's expectations with regardthereto or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any suchstatement is based. Any information contained in this announcement on the price at which theCompany's securities have been bought or sold in the past, or on the yield onsuch securities, should not be relied upon as a guide to future performance. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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