Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Yet another beer deal SABMiller, the world’s largest brewing company (unless and until InBev manages to buy Anheuser-Busch), announced it would buy Russian brewer Vladpivo, located in Russia’s growing Far East in Vladivostok. It’s not much of a deal money-wise (the price is undisclosed, the assets of the company seem to be under $70 million). The deal will be SABMiller’s third location in Russia, where SABMiller is the leader (with Russian brands like Zolotaya Bochka, Tri Bogatiria, and Moi Kaluga). After Carlsberg bought up control of the Russian Baltic brand, SABMiller management may have felt it had to get even bigger in Russia. Meanwhile, the company is rolling out its Grolsch beer brand, purchased last year, in South Africa. It has also been spreading key brands like Grolsch, Pilsner Urquell, Miller Genuine Draft, and even Italy’s Peroni Nostro Azzuro across the globe as "premium" brands. In a world where it would seem that beer was at a saturation point, SABMiller saw an 11% growth in profits over the last year. 10:03:52 PM

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