Anheuser-Busch InBev announced on January, 23 that it has entered into an agreement with Asahi Breweries, Ltd., whereby Asahi will acquire 19.9% of Tsingtao Brewery Co., Ltd. from Anheuser-Busch InBev for USD 667 million.

The divestiture of this stake in Tsingtao is part of Anheuser-Busch InBev’s ongoing deleveraging program and allows the company to unlock shareholder value, generating proceeds that will be used to repay debt incurred as a result of the acquisition of Anheuser-Busch.

Under the agreement, Anheuser-Busch InBev will sell 261,577,836 H-shares of Tsingtao to Asahi at a price of HKD 19.78 per share as of January 22, 2009 implying an EBITDA 08 estimate multiple of 14.2x. This price represents a premium of 38% against the closing price of H-shares as of January 22, 2009, the brewer said.

As a result of the transaction, Asahi will become Tsingtao’s second largest shareholder. Tsingtao Brewery Group will remain the largest shareholder in Tsingtao, holding a 31% stake as of January 23, 2009. Anheuser-Busch InBev will retain a minority share in Tsingtao of approximately 7%.

Anheuser-Busch InBev said it has no current plans to sell any additional shares and will review its strategic options as appropriate.

Carlos Brito, Chief Executive Officer of Anheuser-Busch InBev, said: "Anheuser-Busch ...More Info

Output of Czech breweries fell last year from record year 2007 when they produced 19.9 million hectolitres, while first estimates for 2008 talk about a fall to 19.5 million hectolitres, which would be a 2 percent fall, Czech Beer and Malt Association (CSPS) head Jan Vesely was quoted as saying by CTK on January, 23.

The 2 percent fall in percents roughly corresponds to the decrease in output of the country's largest brewery Plzensky Prazdroj.

The percentage fall seen by the whole Czech beer market is about 3%, it is reported.

Exports, in contrast, have probably grown from 3.6 million to last year's over 3.7 million hectolitres, Vesely said.

"Definitive results of the 48 industrial breweries for last year will be released at the end of February, the estimates are very rough. The last quarter can influence the results a lot," he added.

In January-September 2008, the Czech beer market fell by one percent year on year and exports were 4 percent higher.

"Despite the stagnation on the beer market, in particular in Europe, I consider the continuing growth in exports as gratifying. This confirms that buyers find quality beer despite the current situation," Vesely said.

The growth in Czech beer output is pulled by exports despite ...More Info

Anheuser-Busch InBev announced on January, 22 that it has completed the pricing of EUR 750,000,000 notes due 2013, EUR 600,000,000 notes due 2017 and GBP 550,000,000 notes due 2024.

The notes will bear interest at an annual rate of 7.375% for the 2013 notes, 8.625% for the 2017 notes and 9.75% for the 2024 notes, the world’s largest brewer informed.

The notes will be issued by Anheuser-Busch InBev NV/SA, which is currently rated Baa2 (Moody’s) and BBB+ (Standard and Poor’s), under its Euro Medium Term Note programme. Certain subsidiaries of Anheuser-Busch InBev NV/SA will provide guarantees in respect of the notes.

The company said the notes are being offered and sold to non-US persons outside the US pursuant to Regulation S under the US Securities Act 1933, as amended.

The net proceeds from the sale of the notes will be used to repay short term debt and a portion of the outstanding indebtedness incurred for the purpose of financing the acquisition of Anheuser-Busch Companies Inc.

Felipe Dutra, CFO of Anheuser-Busch InBev, said: “We are delighted to conclude this transaction in the Eurobond market, which will enable us to repay short term debt and reduce our facility A, as part of the USD 45 Billion acquisition ...More Info

Czech brewer Plzeňský Prazdroj achieved in 2008 a sales volume of 10.7 million hl of beer in both domestic and international markets. While domestic volumes declined slightly, by 3% on a year-on-year basis, in line with the overall beer market trend, foreign sales grew by 1%, the company posted in an official press release on January, 22.

Mike Short, Managing Director Plzeňský Prazdroj, commented: "Our strategy focused on premiumisation and exports has proven to be correct. While the domestic market sales slowed moderately, we have done well in exports, with a growth of over 4% despite the financial crisis which has impacted some of our export markets.”

“The year-on-year decline in volumes experienced in the domestic market was mainly due to a weakened demand for our economy brands,” he continued. “Already last year, we declared our primary focus to be on the premium segment. Even in a difficult environment of domestic competition and market consolidation, we have done well and increased the sales of Pilsner Urquell premium lager by 1%. There is also a growing interest in the special beers and innovations in our portfolio."

According to the report, Plzeňský Prazdroj sold a total of 7.9 million hl of beer in the ...More Info

Hong Kong's Kingway Brewery announced on January, 19 that it was expecting to record a further loss (on a consolidated basis) in the second half of 2008.

The company recorded a loss in the first half of the last year as well.

The brewer said the information was based on the company’s preliminary review of its consolidated management accounts, which have not been audited by the company’s auditors.

As stated in Kingway’s interim results announcement dated 4 September 2008, the group recorded an unaudited consolidated loss after tax of approximately HK$24.7 million for the six months ended 30 June 2008 (whilst the group recorded an audited consolidated loss after tax of approximately HK$23.6 million for the year ended 31 December 2007).

According to Kingway’s official statement, the group is expected to record a further loss (on a consolidated basis) in the second half of 2008, which would result in an increase in loss after tax for the year ended 31 December 2008, as compared with that for the 2007 financial year.

Based on an analysis of the information available, the deterioration in the Group's results for 2008 (compared with 2007) was due to a number of factors including: a decrease in the Group's sales; ...More Info

According to the data by Lithuania’s State Tax Inspection, the sales of beer in the country fell by 5.7% to 3.04 mln hl in 2008, DELFI reported on January, 21.

The Lithuanian Brewers Association (LAA) said that the drop in sales volume resulted from the increased raw materials costs and beer excises.

“We cannot be happy about the falling sales, but last year’s excise policy proved that the culture of alcohol consumption can be changed with the help of fiscal instruments,” an Association representative said.

Last year, Lithuania increased the excise on beer by 10%. “This resulted in a change in the sales structure,” Saulus Galadauskas, President of LAA, noted.

The largest world barley crop in more than 10 years continues to pressure the international barley market, Sascatoonhomepage.ca communicated on January, 22.

Feed barley is being pushed lower by the global economic recession and large supplies of feed wheat in Europe and the Black Sea region.

As for malting barley, buyers continue to cover nearby needs only. In the short term, the competition between Canada and Australia is pressuring prices in the short term, but a below average supply of good quality malting barley should limit the price downside as the year continues, experts forecast.

The southern feed barley market has benefited from the problems with logistics in the northern regions of the European Union, La Depeche published on January, 23.

The trade is now going on at growing prices. In the south-west, market participants reported several transactions, though, restricted to small lots.

As for malting barley, French and North-European traders report rare offers and transactions. Nevertheless, a small rise in activity was noted for spring barley in the French ports, solicited by the third countries.

A drop in the freight costs makes possible animation in the international trade, experts comment.

Paulo J. Magalhaes, Pavel Dostalek, Jose M. Cruz, Luis F. Guido and Aquiles A. Barros

Abstract:
J. Inst. Brew. 114(3), 246–256, 2008 Based on the health-promoting properties of xanthohumol (XN), the production of an enriched beer in this substance would be of interest to the brewing industry, from the perspective of pointing out the benefits that beer could bring consumer health. For that purpose, in this work efforts were applied to produce a beer enriched in XN. Also investigated was the influence of a XNenriched hop product on the content of XN and isoxanthohumol (IXN) in pale and dark beers. It was verified that XN was largely converted into IXN during wort boiling. However, the use of dark malts revealed a positive effect on the thermal isomerisation of XN. These results are indicative of the isomerisationinhibiting effect of the stout production process, which resulted in high levels of XN in the beer. Further losses of XN were due to incomplete extraction from the hops into the wort, adsorption to insoluble malt proteins and adsorption to yeast cells during fermentation. It was possible to produce a dark beer enriched in XN (3.5 mg/L) by using coloured malt (caramel malt, roasted malt and roasted malt extract) and a special XN hop extract combined with late hop usage during wort boiling. Key words: beer, health, hop, isoxanthohumol, polyphenols, xanthohumol. Load full article, 11 pages, 513 Kb, PDF file