Laos: Carlsberg acquires a further 25 per cent in Lao brewery

Danish brewing force, Carlsberg A/S, announced to the Copenhagen Stock Exchange on October 25 that it acquires 25 % in Lao Brewery from Chang, thereby increasing its ownership to 50 per cent. The first 25 per cent were acquired in 2002. The remaining shares are held by the government of Laos.

Lao Brewery is the only brewery in Laos and it has a market share of about 99 per cent. It is a modern brewery, upgraded in recent years through the addition of a new automatic brew house and packaging lines. The present yearly production is approximately 900,000 hl beer and the capacity is 1.2 million hl beer.

Lao Brewery produces the local brand Beerlao. On top of this it has just started brewing Carlsberg Beer which was launched recently. The population in Laos is 5.3 million. The yearly GDP growth is about 3 per cent. The beer consumption is about 20 litre per capita. As a result of the economic growth it is growing by 8-9 per cent per year. Carlsberg and Chang have agreed not to disclose the acquisition price.

Carlsberg is one of the leading brewing groups in the world, with a large portfolio of beer and soft drink brands. Its flagship brand, Carlsberg, is one of fastest growing and most well known beer brands in the world. Over 31,000 people work for Carlsberg at its 92 local production sites in 48 countries and its products are sold in over 150 markets. In 2004, Carlsberg sold 92 million hectolitres of beer, which breaks down to roughly 74 million bottles of beer per day.

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