Brazilian beverage maker AmBev announced on December 02 it had bought a controlling stake in Ecuador's second-largest brewer, Cerveceria SurAmericana, for $36 million. Companhia de Bebidas das Americas, as AmBev is officially called, said in a letter to the Sao Paulo Stock Exchange it had purchased 80 % of SurAmericana's capital in the transaction, Reuters reported on December 02. "This deal is another step toward the expansion of AmBev in Latin America," said AmBev, the fifth-largest brewer in the world. "The company has been using acquisitions and greenfield projects in the region to consolidate its position in attractive markets."

Based in Guayaquil, SurAmericana controls 6 % of Ecuador's beer market with its Biela brew and has a production capacity of 900,000 hectoliters a year, which AmBev estimates is enough to supply 30 % of the Ecuadorean market.

AmBev said its $36 million price tag implied it was paying $50 per hectoliter, and that the money would include a capital injection to assume and restructure the company's debt.

By far the strongest player in Brazil's beverage market, AmBev also has operations in Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay and Venezuela and is expanding into Peru and Central America.

03 December, 2003