SABMiller’s Polish Subsidiary Announces Approval for Acquisition

07/01/08 SABMiller plc’s Polish subsidiary, Kompania Piwowarska S.A., announces that it has received approval from the Polish Office of Competition and Consumer Protection for the acquisition of 99.96% of Browar Belgia from Palm Breweries NV. The value of the gross assets to be acquired is approximately €65 million and it is expected that the acquisition will be completed in the next few days.

Browar Belgia operates one brewery situated in Kielce, South East Poland, and has an annual production capacity in excess of 1 million hectolitres. Its principal brands are Wojak, Gingers and Frater.

Alan Clark, Managing Director of SABMiller Europe, said: “We are delighted to have received approval for the acquisition of Browar Belgia. The Polish market and KP have recorded exceptional growth over the last ten years and additional capacity is required to capitalise on the level of consumer demand for our products in the local market. This acquisition will immediately deliver the required expansion capacity without having to develop a greenfield site. It also complements our existing manufacturing footprint and brand portfolio.”

KP has experienced a decade of consistent volume growth across its key brands—Tyskie, Lech and Zubr—and the combined investment in capacity expansion over this period has amounted to approximately €400 million across its three existing breweries. The acquisition will increase the annual brewing capacity of KP to 16 million hectolitres.