InBev said on July 01, 2008 that it remains committed to its proposal to create the world’s leading beer company through an acquisition of all the outstanding common shares of Anheuser-Busch Companies Inc. at $65 per-share in cash, representing an immediate premium of 35% over the unaffected share price and a premium of 18% over the previous all-time high in October, 2002.

Carlos Brito, Chief Executive Officer of InBev, said:

“Our firm proposal of $65 per share reflects the full and fair value of the company. The proposal is backed by fully committed financing, and provides immediate certainty of value in a weakened stock market environment. Our firm proposal was rejected in favor of a newly formulated management plan with significant execution risks.

In addition to guaranteeing immediate value for Anheuser-Busch shareholders, our proposal is predicated on an established track record of international expansion and consistent growth in profitability. This combination would create a stronger, more competitive global company with an unrivaled worldwide brand portfolio and distribution network, as well as unmatched economies of scale in a period of rapidly escalating commodity prices. It would provide unparalleled opportunities for consumers, employees, wholesalers, business partners and communities.

Given the seriousness of our firm ...More Info

SABMiller plc and Molson Coors Brewing Company announced on June 30 the closing of the transaction to combine their U.S. and Puerto Rico operations to create MillerCoors.

MillerCoors, which will begin operating as a combined entity on July 1, 2008, will be a dynamic, brand-led U.S. brewer with the scale, resources and distribution platform to succeed in the highly competitive marketplace.

“As a unified company with a world-class board and leadership team in place, MillerCoors will be able to create tremendous opportunities for innovations in products and services that will allow us to drive profitable growth,” said Pete Coors, Chairman of MillerCoors. “Personally, I am thrilled to be part of such an exciting and innovative organization and look forward to serving as the Chairman of this new business.”

Graham Mackay, Chief Executive of SABMiller, said, “Today is an historic day in the American beer business, not only for the shareholders of both SABMiller and Molson Coors, but for MillerCoors consumers, employees, distributors and business partners. Now that the transaction has closed and MillerCoors is a reality, the strong leadership team we have put in place is ready to execute and realize the tremendous potential of this great organization.”

Leo Kiely, Chief Executive ...More Info

At the request and on behalf of Carlsberg Estonia Holding OÜ, Saku Õlletehase AS makes the following announcement:

On 29 May 2008 Carlsberg Estonia Holding OÜ (hereinafter Carlsberg) announced a mandatory takeover bid for the acquisition of shares of Saku Õlletehase AS (hereinafter Saku Õlletehas). The term for the acceptance of the takeover bid ended on 26 June 2008. The purchase price offered by Carlsberg in the takeover bid was EEK 194.06 (i.e. EUR 12.40) per share.

In the course of the takeover bid the shareholders decided to sell to Carlsberg a total of 1,390,810 shares of Saku Õlletehas, constituting approximately 17.4 per cent of all shares of Saku Õlletehas. Payment of the purchase price to shareholders who sold their shares and the transfer of shares sold to Carlsberg will be executed on 3 July 2008 through delivery-versus-payment method.

After the acquisition of shares mentioned above Carlsberg will own a total of 7,391,651 shares of Saku Õlletehas, constituting approximately 92.40 per cent of all shares of Saku Õlletehas and votes represented by such shares. As at 30 June 2008, persons acting in concert with Carlsberg and other companies belonging to Carlsberg A/S group do not own any shares of Saku Õlletehas.

Taking into consideration ...More Info

SABMiller, the world's brewing force, lowered the beer volume growth target for one of its key regions, Latin America, the company announced on June 30 due to softer consumer demand, especially in Colombia and Peru, according to Reuters.

The brewer is cutting its medium-term annual beer volume growth target to 5 to 7 percent from a previous 6 to 8 percent, although price rises and cost cutting mean it will be able to hold its target for annual profit margin rises.

"We are lowering the target due to the slightly softer consumer environment," said SABMiller President Barry Smith at a group investor seminar on Latin America.

The company, which brews Aguila beer in Colombia and Cristal in Peru, showed an increase in regional beer volumes of 5 percent in its year to March 2008, while earnings before interest, tax and amortisation (EBITA) went up 17 percent.

The region produces a quarter of SABMiller's profits, just behind South Africa at 28 percent, and analysts and company officials say Latin America will become the group's biggest profits earner in the current year to March 2009.

The brewer operates in six Latin American nations with Colombia earning around 60 percent of regional profit and Peru around a quarter. ...More Info

Mexican brewer FEMSA, seen as a target in the current global beer industry consolidation, is more likely to team up with a partner to face future challenges than let a big-spending giant buy it out, Reuters commented on June 30.

The maker of Tecate and Sol beer is controlled by a group of conservative families from the northern city of Monterrey that are united by marriage and analysts say money alone will not be enough to break their bonds.

Even if FEMSA, which also makes Bohemia and Dos Equis brews, were to link with a partner for a more global reach its controlling shareholders will be careful to chose one that will not lead to an ugly divorce. "I see it as very remote that they will cede control of this important asset," said Actinver analyst Mauricio Brocado. "It is more likely that they go for a strategic partner."

FEMSA, the 10th largest brewer in the world by volume, and its local rival Modelo, the maker of Corona beer, are often tipped as targets in the consolidation of the industry because of their strong brands and growth outlook.

But both are run by a group of families.

In FEMSA's case, 74 percent of the voting ...More Info

PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC), the firm of accountants, expects pub closures to accelerate beyond its own predictions as the smoking ban and consumer squeeze tighten their grip on the sector, The Publican communicated on June 30.

The firm believes 6,000 pubs will close in the next five years if they “do not take definite steps to address the impact of the ban and squeeze on consumer spend”, with 2,000 of these closing this year alone.

PWC said it was revising its 2007 prediction of 5,000 pub closures by 2012 after 1,200 had shut for good last year, double the 700 closures in 2006.

Martin Jervis, partner, Advisory at PWC said now was the time for pub owners to “take a long hard look at their businesses and make some difficult decisions around their future strategy”.

Jervis said companies should “recognise loss-making trends early and deal with them in the appropriate way, for example through sale or closure”.

Meanwhile a Cancer Research study has revealed that 400,000 people in the UK have quit smoking a year after the ban. The charity estimates 40,000 lives have been saved by the legislation.

The smoking ban was introduced throughout the UK on 1 July 2007, when England came into line with public ...More Info

As from today the excise taxes on alcohol increase almost 3.5 per cent in New Zealand.

DB Breweries, which produces Tui, Monteith's and Heineken, will raise prices by an average of 5.5 per cent for a pack of beer and 5.3 per cent for tap beer.

Lion Nathan, producer of Speights, Lion Red, Mac's and Steinlager beer, will also raise prices by an average of 5.5 per cent.

Spirits and ready-to-drink beverages will also reportedly rise, by around 5.3 per cent.

A slightly smaller price hike faces wine drinkers - wine sold by Lion Nathan, which includes Wither Hills, will rise by approximately 4 per cent.

DB Breweries do not produce wine.

Liquor companies are blaming commodity prices for the price increases, saying the cost of malt has soared 50 per cent in the past year.

Hospitality Association of New Zealand chief executive Bruce Robertson said the industry had been reluctant to apply the price increases because of the stretch in the dollar but they "don't have a choice". "We've had significant other increased costs: rent, energy, labour costs - we need to recover that" he said.

Manurewa MP George Hawkins said he didn't think the price increase would have very much impact at all. "To have a ...More Info

Leading Chinese grain and oil trader COFCO announced that China Agri-Industries Holdings (China Agri) and the Yakeshi Municipal Government of Inner Mongolia have signed an investment agreement, whereby China Agri will invest in Yakeshi by setting up COFCO Malting (Hulunbeier) Co., Ltd, according to FlexNews June 30.

The new COFCO Malting (Hulunbeier) company is expected to have an annual malting capacity of 300,000 tons, which will be produced at a newly-built plant.

According to COFCO, construction works, which will begin in July, are expected to end in October 2009. COFCO will invest a total USD 38.45 million in the new operation.

COFCO Malting (Hulunbeier) is located in a large barley area rich in energy and water resources with convenient transportation.

Once production is started, it will improve COFCO’s current malting structure and competitiveness on the market, the company said.

The Grain Pool marketing unit of Western Australian- based Cooperative Bulk Handling Ltd. late Monday, June 30, reported the first sale of a 25,000-metric ton cargo of Baudin grade malting barley to a South American unit of the world's largest brewer, U.K.-based SABMiller PLC, according to Dow Jones.

Grain Pool has been seeking to enter the South American market for a number of years and the cargo, which arrived June 22, comes with a full quality assurance and traceability from growers to end-users, it said in a statement.

The barley was grown in Western Australia's southeast growing districts of Grass Patch and Esperance and harvested late in 2007, it said.

R. C. Agu, T. A. Bringhurst and J. M. Brosnan

Abstract
J. Inst. Brew. 114(1), 62–68, 2008 Studies carried out on normal husked barley, normal hull-less (naked) barley, acid dehusked barley and acid dehusked hull-less barley, as well as the malts derived from them, showed that when acid dehusked barley samples (obtained from either husked or hull-less barley), were processed using commercial enzyme preparations, they produced more alcohol when compared with the alcohol yield obtained from the barley samples from which the acid dehusked samples were derived. When the husked (Optic) control, acid dehusked and hull-less barley samples were malted, Optic control barley produced malt that gave higher dextrinising units (DU) and diastatic power (DP), whilst acid dehusked Optic and hull-less barley produced malts that gave similar DU results on day 5 of the germination time. When mashed, acid dehusked (Optic) barley malt produced wort that filtered faster than the wort obtained from the malt made from hull-less barley. This observation is very important because it shows that the husk of the barley is not the only factor that determines the filtration performance of the malted barley, since both the malt samples made from husked and acid dehusked barley had similar filtration rates on day 5 of the germination time. The slow filtration rate observed for the wort made from hull-less barley suggests that other factors play some role during the filtration of the mash made from hull-less barley malt. Although hull-less malt appeared to develop lower DU and DP enzyme activities, when compared with the values obtained for the Optic control, hull-less barley malted faster and produced optimum predicted spirit yield (PSY) at day 4 of the germination time. In contrast, the control husked Optic barley malt that had higher DU and DP produced equivalent (optimum) predicted spirit yield one day later at 5 days germination time. This is an advantage for hull-less barley, both in terms of time and energy saving during the malting of barley. Although the acid dehusked Optic barley produced more alcohol than the husked control when commercial enzyme preparation was used to process barley, it was surprising that when the derived malt was assessed, it gave a lower predicted spirit yield than the husked control, even though it produced a higher amount of hot water extract (HWE). The higher extract yield and lower predicted spirit yield obtained from the malt made from acid dehusked malt confirmed that high extract yield is not necessarily associated with high fermentable extract. Key words: Alcohol yield, acid de-husked barley, barley, diastatic power, dextrinising unit, filtration rate, hull-less barley. ... Load full article, 6 pages, 1504 Kb, PDF file