McDowell AlcoBev, a joint venture firm between United Breweries Ltd (UB) Group, Scottish & Newcastle (S&N) and Ravi Jain, has acquired a 51.75 % equity stake in Inertia Industries Ltd, a UB Group company, and formalised proposals to inject Rs 180-crore into the joint venture firm.

The company has made an open offer to shareholders of Inertia, which belongs to United Breweries Ltd (UBL), to acquire an additional 25 per cent stake. McDowell AlcoBev said it has reached an agreement to acquire 51.75 per cent stake in Inertia and two companies controlled by Ravi Jain.

It has also received commitments totalling Rs 300-crore for its business expansion plans in the Indian beer market and following the acquisition will have its own captive capacity of 15 million cases through its breweries at Aurangabad and Dharuhera.

22 May, 2003