13th Jan 2006 15:30
SABMiller PLC13 January 2006 The following replaces 'Investment in Vinamilk' which was released today at 15:00 GMT under RNS announcement 9249W. The headline should read 'Investment inVietnam'. Ref 01/2006 SABMiller plc announces investment in high growth Vietnamese beer market London and Johannesburg, 13 January 2006. SABMiller plc ("SABMiller") announcesthat it has entered into a joint venture with Vietnam Dairy Products Joint StockCompany ("Vinamilk") to establish a greenfield brewery in the Binh Duongprovince in southern Vietnam, subject to certain conditions being fulfilled. Under the terms of the agreement, SABMiller and Vinamilk will each hold a 50%interest in the joint venture investment vehicle, for which the total initialinvestment capital will be US$ 45 million. SABMiller's share of the investmentwill be settled in cash from existing resources. The initial capacity of the brewery, which is expected to be operational by2007, will be 500k hectolitres, with the ability to expand production to 1million hectolitres. Such expansion would be funded from operating cashflows. Vinamilk is a widely recognised and successful company in Vietnam, and with anestimated 70% market share in milk and related products and beverages, is thenational market leader in this sector, with a strong distribution networkthroughout Vietnam. The Vietnamese Ministry of Industry estimates that the beer market in Vietnamhas grown from 13 million hectolitres in 2003 to 15 million hectolitres in 2005.The Vietnamese beer market is one of the fastest growing beer markets in theworld and is considered to have favourable future prospects. The transactionreflects SABMiller's continued strategy to enter high growth developing beermarkets. The joint venture will initially focus on developing a Vietnamese mainstreambrand which will be complemented by a premium brand from the SABMiller portfolioof international brands. The joint venture will firstly concentrate on servingthe local market in southern Vietnam, but plans to expand nationally in duecourse. Andre Parker, SABMiller's Africa & Asia managing director, commented: "We are delighted to have reached agreement with Vinamilk to enter the highgrowth Vietnamese beer market. Vinamilk has an extensive distribution network,which will give us access to more than 20,000 outlets in southern Vietnam whichretail beer. We believe that the combination of both parties' expertise willresult in a very successful venture". Mai Kieu Lien, Vinamilk's general director, commented: "With SABMiller's experience in beer markets and Vinamilk's knowledge ofVietnam, we believe that the joint venture will be extremely successful and willmake a considerable contribution to our society." Ends Notes to editors SABMiller SABMiller plc is one of the world's largest brewers with brewing interests ordistribution agreements in over 60 countries across five 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 2005, the group reported US$2,194 million pre-taxprofit and a turnover of US$14,543 million on a UK GAAP basis. SABMiller plc islisted on the London and Johannesburg stock exchanges. This announcement is available on the company website: www.sabmiller.com High resolution images are available for the media to view and download free ofcharge from: www.vismedia.co.uk Vietnam Dairy Products Joint Stock Company ("Vinamilk") Vinamilk is the leader in the Vietnamese dairy products market, with itsdistribution network in all of the 64 provinces of Vietnam. The company has beenvoted first in the "Top Ten Vietnamese High-quality Goods" survey by consumerssince 1995. Vinamilk has achieved growth of over 20% in recent years. In 2005 the companygenerated US$355 million turnover and an after-tax profit of US$38 million. Vinamilk is scheduled to list on the Ho Chi Minh City securities exchange beforethe end of January 2006. Enquiries: SABMiller plc Tel: +44 20 7659 0100 Sue Clark Director of Corporate Affairs Tel: +44 20 7659 0184 Gary Leibowitz Vice President, Investor Relations Tel: +44 20 7659 0174 James Crampton Media Relations Manager Tel: +44 20 7659 0172 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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