Chile�s CCU will invest $90 million in expanding production capacity

Chile: Chile's leading beer maker, Compania Cervecerias Unidas (CCU), announced on April 21 it will invest $90 million this year in expanding its production capacity satisfying growing demand for its beverages, according to Reuters. Over three years, the company will invest a total of $250 million, Patricio Jottar, CCU general manager communicated.

Eighty-five percent of the investment money will go to Chile and the rest will so to Argentina, Patricio Jottar said. The investment plan does not include the construction of new factories.

CCU will increase its output of beer, soft drinks, juices and mineral water, all of which are nearing their maximum production levels.

Holding company Quinenco has a 31 % stake in CCU. Another 61.6 % is held by Inversiones y Renta, or IRSA, which is 50 % owned by Dutch beer-maker Heineken NV. Last month, CCU completed a deal to take over a cooperative that makes pisco, a popular alcohol distilled from grapes, significantly boosting its share of the growing pisco market. The company recently announced its first-quarter sales volume rose 10.5 % compared with the same quarter in 2004.

CCU is a diversified beverage company operating principally in Chile and Argentina. CCU is the largest Chilean brewer, the second-largest Argentine brewer, the third-largest Chilean soft drink producer, the second-largest Chilean wine producer, the largest Chilean mineral water producer and recently entered the pisco business. The Company has licensing and/or joint venture arrangements with Paulaner Brauerei AG, Anheuser-Busch Incorporated, Heineken Brouwerijen B.V., PepsiCo Inc., Schweppes Holdings Limited, Guinness Brewing Worldwide Limited and Watt�s Alimentos S.A.