E-Malt.com News article: 2903

South African and UK-listed SABMiller plc (SAB), one of the world's largest brewers by volume, plans to sell its entire 21% stake in South African retailer Edgars Consolidated Stores Ltd (Edcon, ECO) via a private placement, the group said in a statement. SABMiller said the disposal of 11.2 million shares in Edcon would be in the form of a global private placement to South African and international institutional investors outside the US, and to qualified institutional buyers (QIBs) inside the US, via an accelerated bookbuilding exercise to be led by joint bookrunners Citigroup and JP Morgan.
The bookbuilding would begin immediately and was expected to close on Thursday, July 8.

SABMiller initially acquired its holding in Edcon in 1982, the majority of which was unbundled prior to SABMiller's initial public offering on the London Stock Exchange in 1999. The group said the final disposal of its residual stake in Edcon was in line with its stated strategy of focusing on its core brewing and beverage operations, Business Day posted on July 6.

Edcon would not receive any proceeds from the sale, the group added.

As the announcement was made after the Monday market close, Edcon's shares did not react to the news. The stock closed 2% lower on the day, at 148.00 rand from 150.99 rand at Friday's close, with 41,189 shares having changed hands in 51 transactions on the day.

SABMiller's 2003/04 lager sales volumes totaled in excess of 137 million hectolitres. It has a brewing presence in over 40 countries across four continents, while outside the US, it is one of the largest bottlers of Coca- Cola products in the world.

In the year ended 31 March 2004, the group generated US$1.39 billion pre-tax profit from a turnover of US$12.645 billion. SABMiller plc is listed on the London and Johannesburg stock exchanges.


07 July, 2004