South America: SABMiller announces completion of major transaction in South America

SABMiller announced on October 12, the completion of the merger through which it has acquired a controlling interest in Bavaria S.A., the second largest brewer in South America.

The 225 million ordinary shares in SABMiller plc issued to the Santo Domingo Group in consideration for the merger and the 167,411,024 ordinary shares arising on the conversion of the remaining convertible low voting participating shares held by Altria Group, Inc. have today been admitted to the Official List of the Financial Services Authority and to trading on the London Stock Exchange's market for listed securities, and have been admitted to listing on the JSE Limited.

Graham Mackay, Chief Executive of SABMiller, said on October 12:"We are delighted that Bavaria is now part of the SABMiller group. This transaction reaffirms SABMiller’s superior growth profile within the brewing industry and we look forward to working with our new partners and colleagues."

SABMiller plc is one of the world’s largest brewers, with 2004/05 lager volumes in excess of 148 million hectolitres. It has a brewing presence in over 40 countries across four continents and a portfolio of strong brands and leading market shares in many of the countries in which it has brewing operations. Outside the USA, SABMiller plc is one of the largest bottlers of Coca-Cola products in the world.

In the year ended 31 March 2005, the group reported US$2,194 million pre-tax profit and a turnover of US$14,543 million. SABMiller plc is listed on the London and Johannesburg stock exchanges.

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