Following the formal approval given by the Securities and Exchange Commission, Consolidated Breweries Plc has acquired the majority shareholding in Champion Breweries Plc.

A statement by the company on Wednesday said that the acquisition took effect on Tuesday, January 3, 2012. It noted, however, that Champion Breweries would still retain its brand name.

The statement said, “The acquisition, which takes effect from January 3, 2012, will not result in a full merger of Champion Breweries Plc into Consolidated Breweries Plc’s existing business.

“This means that Champion Breweries Plc will retain its identity, independence, Board and Management Team, but will be managed with the active involvement of Consolidated Breweries Plc.”

It added that the partnership would also afford Champion Breweries the opportunity to enjoy better growth prospects, thus increasing its bottom-line.

It said, “As a result of this transaction, the acquired company would have good opportunities arising from this partnership with Consolidated Breweries. The reason is that the transaction will, amongst other things, provide an even better avenue for the further development of the Champion Lager Beer brand.

“It will also provide the company with access to expertise, synergies in all functional fields and, not the least important, increase the capacity utilisation of its brewery through possible manufacturing of Consolidated Breweries Plc’s brands in the future.” According to the statement, Consolidated Breweries will also benefit from the partnership as it would strengthen its position in the value for money segment in Nigeria, by being able to improve the geographic spread of its operations.

“More importantly, it will also get instant access to improved production capacity, which will enable the company to address its current capacity constraints and further strengthen its platform for future growth,” it stated.

The statement added that the move by Consolidated Breweries had again confirmed its commitment to playing its role towards the development of the Nigerian beer market. The company recently announced an injection of N1.3bn into Benue Brewery Limited, which it recently acquired.

The move, according to the new owners, was part of measures to ensure that More Lager Beer, the premium product of the company, was restored to its former market influence.

The Managing Director, Consolidated Breweries, Mr. Boudewijn Haarsma, had then said that the new management was anchoring its revival plan on two major pillars, including restoration of Benue Brewery’s leading brand, More Lager beer, to growth in its home base and expansion of the firm’s technical capacity.

He said its technical capacity would be expanded and utilised in order to have sufficient critical scale to become profitable.

“Present capacity of 150,000 hectolitres per annum is being expanded to 400,000 (HL per annum), with an investment of approximately N1.3bn, and it is expected to be completed in 2012,” he said.

Source: Punch/Udeme Ekwere