E-Malt.com Flash 21b. May 26

Russia & Belgium: InBev will own 99.7% economic interest in SUN Interbrew Ltd

InBev S.A. announced on May 27 that it closed its offers to acquire remaining minority interests in SUN Interbrew Ltd on 26 May 2005...more info

Hong Kong: Kingway says still no progress in Heineken stake talks

Kingway Brewery Holdings Ltd. announced on May 26 there has been no progress so far in discussions with Dutch giant Heineken N.V., which is eyeing a bigger stake in the fast-growing Chinese beer maker.

Heineken's joint venture with Singapore's Asia-Pacific Breweries Ltd. and Kingway have said they are in preliminary talks for the Dutch brewer to lift its stake in the Chinese firm from the current 21.44 %.

Kingway Brewery, which has a leading market position in the affluent southern province of Guangdong, said in a statement that it was informed by its controlling shareholder and Heineken-APB China Pte Ltd., which holds the 21.44 % stake, that "there has been no progress" since a previous announcement in late April.

Heineken is competing with global rivals such as Anheuser-Busch and SABMiller to expand its share of China's fast-consolidating beer market, the world's largest by volume. Early last year, the Dutch brewer paid HK$1.85 per share for its stake in Kingway.

Shares in Kingway, previously known as Guangdong Brewery, were unchanged at HK$2.675 shortly after market opened on Thursday. The stock has fallen more than 6 percent in the month to Wednesday's close and 9 percent in the past three months.

India: SABMiller increases stake in Indian brewing business to 99%

SABMiller plc announced on May 27 that its Indian subsidiary, MBL Investments (‘Mysore’), has acquired the Shaw Wallace Group’s 50% interest...more info

Spain: 33.34 % stake in Spanish brewer Mahou will be sold by Groupe Danone SA

Groupe Danone SA announced on May 25 it sell its 33.34 % stake in Spanish brewer Mahou to the company's other shareholders for about EUR 600 million...more info ...more info

UK: InBev buys back Beck's UK for EUR 97.7 million from Scottish & Newcastle

InBev and Scottish & Newcastle (S&N) announced on May 27 that they have reached an agreement that will enable InBev to sell, market and distribute the Beck’s brand in the UK, seven years earlier than allowed under the terms of the existing licensing arrangement. The transaction has already been closed, InBev announced today.

InBev said that it got back the distribution rights for Beck’s® in the U.K., for a price or net present value of 97.7 million euro. This agreement will bring forward the date on which the Beck’s® brand will be fully integrated into the InBev portfolio in the U.K., InBev said. Scottish & Newcastle said the new agreement will generate royalties to S&N from InBev of around £77m. This sum will be paid in agreed annual rates up to the end of the original licence period to 2012.

Beck’s® annual volumes sold in the U.K. in 2004 amounted to approximately 600,000 hectoliters in on-and off-trade, combined. InBev is confident that this brand will be a great asset to Interbrew UK’s portfolio. The unique positioning of Beck’s®, based on its quality and tradition, will certainly create value for Interbrew’s U.K. operations.

Scottish & Newcastle entered into an exclusive distribution agreement for the Beck’s® brand in 1987, which at the time was owned by Brauerei Beck GmbH & Co. In 2001, InBev acquired the German brewery, Beck & Co and, as part of this transaction, it took over the agreement with Scottish & Newcastle for the distribution of Beck’s® in the UK. The distribution agreement was scheduled to run until May 2012. ...more info

Malt News

Sweden: Co-operation procedure at Viking Malt Söderhamn has ended

Viking Malt announced on May 25 that co-operation procedure and negotiations at Viking Malt’s malting house in Söderhamn, Sweden have ended...more info

Barley News

IGC: The 2005/2006 forecast for world barley production is estimated at 140 mln tonnes

According to the International Grain Council’s (IGC) estimation, forecast for barley production in 2005/2006 is down 4 million metric tonnes...more info

Canada: CWB Pool Return Outlook for feed and malting barley

The Canadian Wheat Board (CWB) released on May 27 its Pool Return Outlook (PRO) for the 2004-05 crop year. For feed barley, Pool B is up C$1 per tonne...more info

Hops News

USA: Hops growing reappears in New York State again

Hops, one of the main ingredients for brewing beer, reappears in New York Sate again. Hops used to be one of the New York State's major crops, but about 50 years ago farmers stopped growing the crop.

"Prohibition was really the final nail in the coffin for hops. We did go through a lot of disease problems with the verticillium, wilt and the molds and fungal attacks, in the early 1900's," said Cornell University agriculture development specialist, Duncan Hilchey.

With help from Cornell University and the Northeast Hop Alliance, the hops industry may be brewing again.

The Pederson Farms in Seneca Castle grew a test plot, and one local brewery can't get enough of them. "There is one grower that we know that is successfully growing hops. And we bought his entire crop last year. I don't know what his numbers were the year before but we bought virtually all of it the year before. And we have committed to buying his entire crop this year which like I said 10 times what he grew last year," said the owner of the Ithaca Beer Co., Dan Mitchell. ...more info