E-Malt.com News article: 165

8 October, 2001
Baltic Beverages Holding AB (BBH) sells its 86.6% share of AB Kalnapilis Brewery to Bryggerigruppen A/S (The Danish Brewery Group A/S). The remaining share capital is owned by minority shareholders of whom several are employees. Kalnapilis is being sold because the Lithuanian competition authorities insisted that in order for them to approve the merger of the activities of BBH and Carlsberg in Lithuania, the parties had to sell one of their three breweries. The ownership of BBH is divided 50/50 between Carlsberg Breweries A/S og Oyj Hartwall Abp. The sale is subject to approval by the Lithuanian competition authorities.
Lithuania has five larger breweries: Svyturys, Utenos, Kalnapilis, the Finnish owned Ragutis and Vilniaus Tauras which is already owned by Bryggerigruppen. Together, the five breweries hold approximately 83% of the market and the remainder is covered by around 25 smaller breweries.

23 October, 2001