4th Jan 2008 15:45
SABMiller PLC04 January 2008 Ref 01/2008 04 January 2008 SABMiller's Polish subsidiary announces approval for acquisition SABMiller plc's Polish subsidiary, Kompania Piwowarska S.A. ("KP"), announcesthat it has received approval from the Polish Office of Competition and ConsumerProtection for the acquisition of 99.96% of Browar Belgia from Palm BreweriesNV. The value of the gross assets to be acquired is approximately €65 millionand it is expected that the acquisition will be completed in the next few days. Browar Belgia operates one brewery situated in Kielce, South East Poland, andhas an annual production capacity in excess of 1 million hectolitres. Itsprincipal brands are Wojak, Gingers and Frater. Alan Clark, Managing Director of SABMiller Europe, said: "We are delighted tohave received approval for the acquisition of Browar Belgia. The Polish marketand KP have recorded exceptional growth over the last ten years and additionalcapacity is required to capitalise on the level of consumer demand for ourproducts in the local market. This acquisition will immediately deliver therequired expansion capacity without having to develop a greenfield site. It alsocomplements our existing manufacturing footprint and brand portfolio." KP has experienced a decade of consistent volume growth across its keybrands-Tyskie, Lech and Zubr-and the combined investment in capacity expansionover this period has amounted to approximately €400 million across its threeexisting breweries. The acquisition will increase the annual brewing capacity ofKP to 16 million hectolitres. Ends Notes to editors: 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 US$3,154 million in adjustedpre-tax profit and revenue of $18,620 million. SABMiller plc is listed on theLondon 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.sabmiller.com Kompania Piwowarska - leader of the Polish beer industry Kompania Piwowarska is the largest brewer in Poland. Hundreds of years ofexperience in beer brewing, state-of-the-art technology and rigorous adherenceto the World Class Manufacturing principles guarantee the highest quality beer.The company's product portfolio includes TYSKIE - Poles' favourite beer, ZUBR -the second largest Polish beer brand, LECH, Debowe Mocne, Pilsner Urquell,Redd's, Dog in the Fog, Peroni Nastro Azzurro and Miller Genuine Draft. KompaniaPiwowarska was established in 1999 as a result of a merger of Tyskie BrowaryKsiazece and Lech Browary Wielkopolski. In 2003 Dojlidy Brewery in Bialystok wasacquired by KP. In the fiscal year F07, ended on 31 March 2007, KP sales volumeamounted to 13 million hectolitres. Enquiries:----------------- ----------------------- ------------------ SABMiller plc Tel: +44 20 7659 0100 Sue Clark Director of Corporate Affairs Tel: +44 20 7659 0184 Kelly Mulvey Senior Manager, Investor Relations Tel: +44 20 7659 0176 Nigel Fairbrass Head of Media Relations Tel: +44 7799 894265 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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