Negotiations in Turkey were quickly concluded as the parties agreed Carlsberg Breweries A/S would acquire the Yasar Group's 12.1% stake in Türk Tuborg at a price of DKK 97 million, according to Turks.us. Carlsberg Breweries thus owns 95.3% of Türk Tuborg. The agreement will be reported to Turkish authorities for approval. According to Nils S. Andersen, CEO and President of Carlsberg Breweries, the acquisition is a natural part of the company's strategy to increase its ownership of subsidiaries.

"By holding the absolute majority, we are able to simplify the decision making processes, to introduce our own policies in order to increase earnings and raise efficiency and to increase the transparency of the Group" says Nils S. Andersen and he continues, "the acquisition in Turkey is comparable to our increased holdings in Poland, Italy and Croatia achieved by buying out shareholders, who in accordance with shareholder agreements had much more influence on the operations of the company than they were entitled to based on their number of shares."

Upon approval of the agreement, the three Yasar Group representatives will retire from the Board of Directors which will then consist of Bjørn Wiggen, chairman, Paul Bergqvist and Geir Nesheim all from Carlsberg Breweries and Barry Marshall, managing director of Türk Tuborg.

Türk Tuborg is listed on the Istanbul stock exchange. In the future, Carlsberg Breweries will evaluate the possibilities of delisting the company.

10 June, 2003