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Chile, Santiago: Leading U.S. brewer Anheuser Busch sold its 20 % stake in Chile's biggest brewer CCU for $299 million in an auction on the Santiago Stock Exchange on Friday, November 12. Chilean brokerages Celfin and Banchile together won the auction for the block of 63,695,333 shares, paying 2,821.00 per share, slightly above the auction's base price of 2,800.00 pesos per share, Reuters revealed in a statement.

CCU closed at 2,975.00 pesos per share on Thursday, and was trading at 2,910 pesos a half hour after the auction.

After the auction William Kimmins, vice president and treasurer at Anheuser Busch, told reporters the U.S. brewer would continue its partnership with CCU, for production and distribution of its beer in Chile and Argentina.

Anheuser, the maker of Budweiser brand beer, announced in March it would sell its stake in CCU after its Dutch rival Heineken took an indirect stake in the Chilean company. Dutch rival Heineken NV entered a deal that gave it 30.8 % of CCU.

Compañía de Cervecerías Unidas S.A. (CCU) CCU is the leading beverage company in Chile with three breweries and a total annual beer production of 3.5 million hectolitres, representing a market share of 88 %. The production of soft drinks, including mineral water and nectar, amounts to 4.1 million hectolitres, leading to a market share of 24%. CCU also operates wineries with a total production of 850,000 hectolitres of which about half is designated for export. CCU operates two breweries in Argentina, where it sells 1.5 million hectolitres of beer and has a market share of about 12%. CCU employs 3,900 people. The main brands are Cristal, Escudo, Dorada in Chile and Schneider and Budweiser (under license) in Argentina.

Anheuser-Busch, with annual revenue of $14.15 billion, makes the Bud Light, Michelob and Busch beer brands, among others. It also operates theme parks and water parks.


13 November, 2004