SOUTH AFRICAN BREWERIES PLC
London, 7th August 2001: South African Breweries plc (SAB), one of the
world's leading brewers with operations in 22 countries, today announced
that it has acquired, through its subsidiary company, South African
Breweries International (Europe) B.V., a controlling 83.7% interest in Bere
Timisoreana S.A. of Romania from a vendor consortium. The acquisition is
subject to certain conditions precedent of a technical nature and Romanian
Competition Council approval.
Graham Mackay, Chief Executive of SAB plc, said: "The acquisition of Bere
Timisoreana complements SAB's existing operations in Romania and strengthens
our overall position in central Europe.
"Bere Timisoreana provides SAB with a strong brand, and excellent
distribution in western Romania, which we can develop to drive further
expansion across the country. The acquisition fits well with our strategy
of building regional dominance in emerging markets."
Bere Timisoreana has one brewery, located in the city of Timisoara, and has
419 permanent employees. The brewery currently has an annual capacity of
700,000 hectolitres and annual sales of 580,000 hectolitres. Its main brand
is Timisoreana. The value of the net assets acquired by SAB is
approximately US$6.9 million.
SAB has been operating in Romania since 1996 and currently runs three
breweries with a total capacity of 2.0 million hectolitres, employing around
1,130 people. SAB's existing operations are located in Cluj-Napoca, Pitesti
and Buzau.
Notes to editors:
South African Breweries is the world's leading brewer in emerging markets,
with major brewing and distribution operations in Central and Eastern
Europe, Africa and Asia. It is the world's fifth largest brewer by overall
volume with 81 breweries in 22 countries and over 31,000 employees. In the
year to 31st March 2001, SAB generated US$646 million pre-tax profit from
turnover of US$4.184 billion. The company is listed on both the London and
the Johannesburg stock exchanges.
For further information:
Ciaran Baker, Head of Corporate Communications, SAB plc
Tel: +44 (0) 207 659 0120
Mob: +44 (0) 797 995 4493
This announcement is available on the SAB website at www.sabplc.com.
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