Danish brewing giant, Carlsberg Breweries, signed a deal on October 2 to acquire a 51 % stake in Serbian brewery Pivara Celarevo for Ђ53 million, Serbian press reported on October 2. Under the agreement, Carlsberg will be obliged to make a public offer for the remaining 49 % of shares at Ђ43.12 per share. Celarevo General Manager Mirko Stupar told a press conference that the company was sold for eight times its estimated value of Ђ6.4 million.
Celarevo has 1,200 shareholders, 480 of whom work in the company, said Stupar, adding that each shareholder will raise an average of Ђ41,000 from the sale. The Danish brewer pledged to invest substantial funding over the next seven years to boost production and sales of Celarevo's sole brand Lav, as well as its own Tuborg and Carlsberg brands. The new owner also promised to keep all 480 workers over the next three years and offered lump-sum payments for voluntary redundancies, housing programmes and employee training.
The Serbian market has laid good foundations for development and the arrival of foreign companies, said Carlsberg Breweries Executive Vice President Paul Bergqvist. He added that the acquisition will allow Carlsberg, which already owns breweries in Bulgaria, Croatia and Romania, to strengthen its position in the Balkans.
Serbian Minister of Economy and Privatisation Aleksandar Vlahovic said that Carlsberg's arrival confirms rising investor confidence in Serbian institutions and noted that the country will wrap up its beer industry privatisation at the end of next year with the sale of local breweries in Belgrade, Vrsac and Jagodina.
Celarevo was founded in 1892 and has the capacity to produce 130 million litres of beer a year. Carlsberg is one of the world's leading brewing groups, employing some 29,000 workers at 103 operations in 49 countries. It sells some 7.9 billion litres of beer a year.
03 October, 2003
