Colombia: Bavaria’s shares rose on SABMiller offer rumour

Shares in Colombian brewer Bavaria rose 5.15 % on June 14 on rumours that London-based SABMiller Plc had made a take-over offer, brokers said. A spokesman for Colombia's biggest brewer declined to comment on the rumours, Reuters said. No spokesman for SABMiller in London was immediately available.

Shares in Bavaria, which dominates brewing in Colombia, Ecuador, Panama and Peru, and is 70-percent controlled by the Santo Domingo family, closed at 47,800 pesos, up 5.15 percent from Monday's close. Several traders said SABMiller had made an offer although they said they did not know the details.

Bogota-based Bavaria said earlier this year it would consider a share-swap with a leading international brewer but does not want to sell out.

London-based SABMiller Plc and Dutch Heineken NV, the world's third and fourth biggest brewers, are leading the race for Bavaria, which is valued at around $6.4 billion including $1.7 billion of debt, sources close to the situation said last week.

Belgium-based InBev, which brews Stella Artois, Beck's and Brazilian Brahma, had shown interest in Colombia's Bavaria but was not thought to be a front-runner after Interbrew bought South America's biggest brewer, Brazil-based AmBev, to form InBev last year, the same sources said.

Budweiser-brewer Anheuser-Busch Cos (BUD.N: Quote, Profile, Research) has taken an interest in Bavaria, but the U.S.-based second largest brewer is not a front-runner either, they said. Bavaria's beer brands include Aguila, Cristal and Pilsner beers.

15 June, 2005