E-Malt.com News article: Denmark: Carlsberg controlling foundation completes stock sale

Carlsberg A/S's controlling foundation sold its allocation in the Danish brewer's 30.5 billion kroner ($6.42 billion) rights offering, completing a sale that helped push the stock down almost 10 percent this week, Bloomberg reported May 23.

About 32 million shares in the Nordic region's largest brewer were sold for 490 Danish kroner apiece, according to details e-mailed today by banks managing the offer. The price was 2 percent below last night's closing value for the stock and about 11 percent less than at the end of trading on May 16.

Carlsberg rose 4 percent in Copenhagen trading after four straight days of declines. The Valby, Denmark-based brewer is selling new shares to repay about half the debt taken on with the purchase of Scottish & Newcastle Plc's Russian assets and maintain its investment-grade credit rating.

``There were a lot of shares to be placed and I think it's a fair price,'' Bjoern Schwarz, an analyst at Sydbank in Aabenraa, said by phone today. He rates the shares ``overweight.''

Carlsberg rose 20 kroner to 520 kroner in Copenhagen. The stock fell the most in seven months yesterday as banks sought buyers for the $3.3 billion of stock being sold by the foundation. It has gained 1.6 percent this year.

The completion of the placement means the ``downward pressure on the share price will disappear,'' said Jens Houe Thomsen, an analyst at Jyske Bank in Silkeborg, Denmark.

`Good Outlook'

Investors can now focus on the ``good outlook'' for Carlsberg, Sydbank's Schwarz said.

Merrill Lynch & Co. today lifted its rating on Carlsberg to ``buy'' from ``neutral,'' citing the outlook for growth. The brewer was raised to ``hold'' from ``reduce'' at Dresdner Kleinwort after the shares reached the brokerage's price estimate.

``We forecast a three-year compounded annual growth rate of more than 20 percent,'' Merrill Lynch analysts including Nico Lambrechts wrote in a note to clients.

Carlsberg is turning from a mature-market brewer into an ``attractive'' emerging-market company, Javier Gonzalez-Lastra, an analyst at Goldman, Sachs & Co., said this month. He says emerging markets will account for 70 percent of the brewer's business next year, up from 45 percent before the S&N deal.

Carlsberg confirmed in a separate statement today that the foundation has completed its disposal of rights in connection with the equity offering. The rights were sold to the book- runners, which placed the corresponding number of newly issued B-shares with institutional investors in Denmark and abroad.

Foundation Stake

Banks managing the sale include BNP Paribas SA, Danske Bank A/S, Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. and Nordea Bank AB.

The 132-year-old Carlsberg Foundation's 51.3 percent stake in the brewer will be diluted to about 30.4 percent at the price of 490 kroner, according to a document released by the banks on May 21. The foundation currently also holds about 82 percent of Carlsberg's voting rights, which will drop to about 51 percent after the offer, spokesman Jens Peter Skaarup said May 21.

Carlsberg's charter was amended in May last year so the foundation must hold at least 51 percent of the votes and more than 25 percent of the shares, enabling the company to sell stock to pay for acquisitions.


28 May, 2008