TALLINN - Estonia's biggest brewing company, Saku Brewery, voted to delist from the Tallinn stock exchange Aug. 11.
The company's owner, Danish brewing giant Carlsberg, says that the company is in good hands.
"We see a great future in the Saku brand name and in the local market," Mikael Aro, senior vice-president for northern Europe, told The Baltic Times.
Aro acknowledged that the company, owner of one of Estonia's best known and well loved brands, has had a rough time of late, with shareholders falling over themselves to sell their stocks.
"There have been tough changes for Saku. The brewing industry in Estonia has seen tax increases two times, [and] this has affected our results," Aro said.
Carlsberg's takeover of Saku has been rapid. Until May 9, 2008, 50 percent of the shares of Baltic Beverages Holding AB, which owned 75 percent of Saku shares, were held by Carlsberg and the remaining 50 percent were held by Scottish & Newcastle PLC. On May 9, 2008, Carlsberg acquired the remaining 50 percent of the shares of Baltic Beverages.
Carlsberg sees the takeover of the company and delisting as a natural evolution.
"Many owners decided to sell to us because of the stock market. We had over 90 percent of the company. This put us in a difficult situation. Under Estonian law we had to make an offer," Aro said.
Despite its difficulties in the stock market, Saku Brewery still managed to make substantial profit in the first quarter of 2008 with a net profit of 20.9 million kroons (1.34 million euros), a 52.4 million-kroon improvement on the corresponding period in 2007. Much of the difference in results is attributable to the income tax expense.
Carlsberg determined the amount of fair compensation payable to the minority shareholders for the takeover of their shares to be 194.06 kroons (12.40 euros) per share, which is equal to the price offered in the takeover bid.
The transfer of shares from the minority shareholders to Carlsberg Estonia Holding OÜ and the payment of compensation to minority shareholders will be arranged by the registrar of the Estonian Central Register of Securities (ECRS) on the basis of the application of the management board of Saku. This application will be submitted after the passage of one month as of the adoption of the resolution.
The compensation will be payable to the minority shareholders simultaneously with the transfer of shares to Carlsberg Estonia Holding.
Saku Brewery is the Estonian beer market leader. Saku accounts for over 50 percent of all beer sold in Estonia. It also sells other beverages. The total sales of beer and mineral water by Saku amounted to 51.6 million liters in 1999.
The main product of Saku Brewery is Saku Originaal - the leader of Estonia's beer market since 1995.
According to the market research by Emor, Saku Originaal is the most recognized and popular Estonian beer.
