5th Dec 2007 07:01
SABMiller PLC05 December 2007 Ref 33/2007 5 December 2007 SABMILLER AND COCA-COLA AMATIL ACQUIRE BLUETONGUE BREWERY IN AUSTRALIA SABMiller plc today announces that its joint venture with Coca-Cola AmatilLimited (CCA), Pacific Beverages Pty Limited (Pacific Beverages) has acquiredBluetongue Brewery Pty Limited (Bluetongue), the Australian premium brewer. Bluetongue was established in 2003 and operates from a brewery near Newcastle,New South Wales with an annual capacity in excess of 50,000 hectolitres. Itspremium beer brands include Bluetongue Premium Lager, Bluetongue Premium Light,Bluetongue Traditional Pilsner, Bluetongue Alcoholic Ginger Beer and BondiBlonde. In its four years of operation Bluetongue has had significant success in thepremium beer category and in 2004 Bluetongue Premium Lager was awarded NewProduct of the Year at the Australian Liquor Awards. The operations and productrange have been progressively expanded and in the year to November 2007 thecompany has delivered sales growth of over 70 per cent. The acquisition will give Pacific Beverages greater access to the Australianpremium beer market which has grown at a rate of around 15 per cent each yearfor the last six years. Ari Mervis, Managing Director SABMiller Asia, said, "TheAustralian premium beer market is growing strongly year-on-year. PacificBeverages is well placed to capitalise on this trend and our expertise inpremium brand management together with CCA's distribution strength means that wecan accelerate the development of the Bluetongue brands and grow our share ofthe premium beer market in Australia." Terry Davis, the Group Managing Director of CCA, said, "The acquisition ofBluetongue Brewery adds a fast-growing and uniquely Australian premium beerbrand to Pacific Beverages' existing portfolio of imported premium beers andfits perfectly with our strategy of developing our presence in the Australianpremium beer market." Sales of Pacific Beverages' existing premium imported beer brands have grownstrongly since their introduction in 2006. For the full year, it is expectedthat volumes will grow by more than 100 per cent over the prior year when thebrands were managed under other distribution arrangements. This growth has beenachieved through targeted brand advertising, outlet execution, and the benefitsof expanding availability through CCA's large customer network. In November 2007SABMiller's Miller Chill, a chelada-style light beer was launched in theAustralian market and early consumer uptake has been encouraging. The value of the gross assets acquired is approximately A$14 million (US$12.3million). The purchase price is not being disclosed. Ends Note to editors: Pacific Beverages Pacific Beverages is the 50:50 joint venture between Coca-Cola Amatil Limitedand SABMiller plc to sell and distribute imported premium beer in Australia.Pacific Beverages imported SABMiller's international premium brands, PeroniNastro Azzurro, Miller Genuine Draft, Miller Chill and Pilsner Urquell into theAustralian market. Pacific Beverages also sells and distributes the premium spirit portfolio ofglobal premium spirits distributor Maxxium. Major brands include Jim Beam,Canadian Club, Remy Martin, Cointreau, The Famous Grouse and ABSOLUT VODKA. Bluetongue Based in Newcastle, New South Wales, Bluetongue was established in November2003. Premium beer brands include Bluetongue Premium Lager, Bluetongue PremiumLight, Bluetongue Traditional Pilsner and Bluetongue Alcoholic Ginger Beer, andBondi Blonde. The company currently employs 47 people. Bluetongue's name originates from the blue-tongued lizard, one of Australia'sfavourite native creatures. They are about 30cm long, have a large fiercelooking head and are easily recognised by their bright blue tongue which theystick out to warn off predators. Blue-tongues are often found basking in the sunin the Australian bush and in backyards across suburban Australia. SABMiller plc SABMiller plc is one of the world's largest brewers with brewing interests ordistribution agreements in over 60 countries across six continents. The group'sbrands include premium international beers such as Miller Genuine Draft, PeroniNastro Azzurro and Pilsner Urquell, as well as an exceptional range of marketleading local brands. Outside the USA, SABMiller plc is also one of the largestbottlers of Coca-Cola products in the world. In the year ended 31 March 2007,the group reported $3,154 million adjusted pre-tax profit and revenue of $18,620million. SABMiller plc is listed on the London and Johannesburg stock exchanges. For more information on SABMiller plc, visit the company's website:www.sabmiller.com Coca-Cola Amatil Limited (CCA) CCA is the largest non-alcoholic beverage company in the Asia-Pacific region andone of the world's top give Coca-Cola bottlers. CCA operates across fivecountries - Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia, Fiji and Papua New Guinea. In thepast six years CCA has diversified its portfolio of products to include water,sports drinks, fruit juices, coffee, iced teas and packaged ready-to-eat fruitand vegetable products. CCA produces the Australian market's number one cola brand - Coca-Cola; thenumber one non-sugar colas, diet Coke and Coca-Cola Zero; the number one bottledwater brand Mount Franklin and the number one sports beverage; PoweradeIsotonic. Enquiries:----------------- ----------------------- ------------------ SABMiller plcSue Clark Director of Corporate Affairs Tel: +44 20 7659 0184 Gary Leibowitz Senior Vice President, Investor Tel: +44 20 7659 0119 Relations Nigel Fairbrass Head of Media Relations Mob: + 44 7799 894 265 Coca-Cola Amatil LimitedSally Loane Media Tel: +61 2 9259 6797 Paul Irving Analysts Tel: +61 2 9259 6185 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 disseminate anyupdates 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 priceat which the Company's securities have been bought or sold in the past, or onthe yield on such securities, should not be relied upon as a guide to futureperformance. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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