Turkish holding Anadolu Efes announced the signing of the agreement to buy Amstar brewery (Ufa, Ural region, Russia), the producer of Sokol beer brand. It is thought that Anadolu Efes will purchase Amstar in April. The agreement is a preliminary one for the cash-and-share swap deal, which is thought to be worth at least US$50m.

Efes is planning to acquire 100% of Amstar, including a minority stake held by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. The acquisition will add around 1.2m hls to Efes' brewing capacity in Russia.

Last year Amstar produced about 70 million litres of beer and now it holds 0.8% of Russian beer market. Dutch company Amsterdam Brewery Investment owns the control packet of shares of Amstar brewery. Amstar was built for years ago.

17 March, 2003