Germany: SABMiller is eyeing acquisitions in Germany to strengthen premium beer sales in the country

SABMiller PLC, the world's second largest brewer, is looking into acquisitions in Germany to boost sales of its premium beer brands in that country, the head of SABMiller's European business Alan Clark said in an interview with Financial Times Deutschland on September 3rd, according to Thomson Financial.

'Germany is interesting because of its size. But up to now we have not seen any potentially attractive acquisition target,' the paper quoted Clark as saying. 'I'm sure there are possibilities of acquisitions.'

Germany and the UK are the two national markets in Europe the company plans to expand in, he said. 'We will concentrate on the premium market segment in Germany,' he added.

SABMiller, which has annual volume sales of 210,000 hectolitres of beer in Germany through its Pilsner Urquell brand, aims to lift sales in the country to 1-2 mln hectolitres 'in the long term,' he said.

SABMiller is focusing on the higher end of the Western European beer market because it is growing, despite an overall decline in beer consumption in the region, Clark told the newspaper.

05 September, 2007