Russia: According to the last agreement between SUN Interbrew Ltd and Alfa-Eco, the control of Yekaterinburg Brewery OAO “Patra” is completely transferred to Alfa-Eco. That means Patra might be resold, analysts commented. Belgian Company InBev plans to complete the shares acquisition of SUN Interbrew from Russian Holding Alfa-Eco and Indian SUN Trade (International) Ltd. in the first quarter of the year. As a result of the deals InBev will hold 98.5% of SUN Interbrew. After that SUN Trade and its affiliates will hold about 2% of InBev.

As a result all interests that SUN Interbrew Ltd holds in Yekaterinburg Brewing Company (OAO Patra), i.e. all interests that SUN trade holds in Damsel Limited (and indirectly all of the shares in OAO “Patra” owned by Damsel, representing 23.8% of the issued share capital of OAO “Patra”) will be transferred to Alfa-Eco. Last summer Alfa Eco acquired 50% shares of OAO Patra, and after this deal will be holding about 75% of Patra.

The next step of Alfa-Eco regarding OAO Patra will be reselling, according to Russian analysts. “When the selling will be done is not possible to forecast, that depends on the strategy selected by Alfa-Eco”. The same analysts do not exclude SUN Interbrew will make an effort to become the eventual buyer. Other candidates could be SABMIller or Heineken. However Alfa-Eco hasn’t revealed its plans yet.

InBev is a publicly traded company (Euronext: INB) based in Leuven, Belgium. The company's origins date back to 1366, and today it is the leading global brewer by volume. InBev’s strategy is to strengthen its local platforms by building significant positions in the world's major beer markets through organic growth, world-class efficiency, targeted acquisitions, and by putting consumers first. InBev has a portfolio of more than 200 brands, including Stella Artois®, Brahma®, Beck’s®, Leffe®, Hoegaarden®, Staropramen® and Bass®. InBev employs some 77,000 people, running operations in over 30 countries across the Americas, Europe and Asia Pacific. In 2003, InBev realized a net turnover of approximately 9.3 billion euro (2003 pro forma).

SUN Interbrew Limited is the second largest brewer in Russia and the largest brewer in Ukraine. The company was set up in 1999 as a strategic partnership between InBev, the No. 1 global brewer, and the SUN Group, operating in the region since 1958, and in the beer sector of Russia and CIS since the beginning of 1990s. The company’s main brands are Stella Artois®, Beck’s®, Staropramen®, Klinskoye, Sibirskaya Korona, and Tolstiak in Russia, and Stella Artois®, Beck’s®, Chernigivske, Rogan, Taller and Yantar in Ukraine. SUN Interbrew is a public company registered in Jersey, whose shares are listed in Luxembourg and traded on the Luxembourg, Frankfurt and Berlin stock exchanges.

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