Denmark: Royal Unibrew increases its holding of shares of Greenland production entity

The Greenland Home Rule Government is selling its shares of the beer and soft drinks business Nuuk Imeq A/S, and the deal was closed on October 16. Since 1986, Nuuk Imeq has bottled and produced beer and soft drinks from Royal Unibrew and Carlsberg Breweries, respectively. To date, the shares have been held by the two brewery businesses, the Municipality of Nuup and the Greenland Home Rule Government.

The shares held by the Greenland Home Rule Government are distributed to Royal Unibrew A/S, Carlsberg Breweries A/S and the Municipality of Nuup proportionately to their existing holdings of shares of Nuuk Imeq A/S. The total acquisition price of the shares is DKK 34.4 million. The amount represented by the shares acquired by Royal Unibrew is some DKK 11 million.

Following the acquisition of the shares, the share capital breaks down as follows: Royal Unibrew A/S and Carlsberg Breweries A/S each hold 31.86% and the Municipality of Nuup holds 35.38% of the shares of Nuuk Imeq A/S.

The shares have been acquired with effect from 30 June 2005 in continuation of Royal Unibrew's existing beer and soft drinks activities in Greenland. For example, Royal Unibrew is the provider of the leading soft drink in Greenland, Faxe Kondi, as well as Royal Export, which belongs in the strong beer segment.

The acquisition of the additional shares of Nuuk Imeq A/S is not expected to affect the 2005 results of Royal Unibrew materially.