USA: Heineken acquires 50% stake of Lagunitas craft beer
Dutch brewer Heineken is aiming to step up its presence in the US craft beer market with the purchase of a 50% stake in California’s Lagunitas beer brand. Lagunitas, claimed to be the fifth top selling craft beer in the US, is planning to expand globally by forming the joint venture with Heineken. The company […]
China: CEFC to buy a majority stake in Pivovary Lobkowicz
CEFC, China’s sixth largest private company, is to acquire a 79.4% stake in the Czech brewery Pivovary Lobkowicz in a deal valued at 1.9 billion CZK ($78.46 million), according to a report in the Prague Post. The shares are being acquired through Lapasan, a newly-formed company in which CEFC has a 70% stake “Pivovary Lobkowicz […]
Belgium: AB InBev plans offer for SABMiller
AB InBev has confirmed in a statement that it has approached rival beermaker SABMiller regarding a possible combination of the two companies. The mooted deal, valued at approximately $250 billion, would bring together a host of globally important brands, such as Stella Artois, Budweiser, Corona (owned by AB InBev) and Grolsch, Peroni and Fosters (owned […]
USA: MillerCoors acquires majority interest in Saint Archer Brewing
MillerCoors, through its craft and import division Tenth and Blake, has announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire a majority interest in Californian craft brewer Saint Archer Brewing. Founded in San Diego in 2013, Saint Archer brews an array of ales including Blonde Ale, IPA, White Ale and Pale Ale. The company […]
USA: 21st Amendment Brewery releases toaster pastry flavoured beer
San Francisco, US-based brewer 21st Amendment has created a new flavoured beer that is claimed to taste like Pop-Tart toaster pastries. The owners of the company reportedly came up with the idea after signing a lease for space in a factory that had previously been used by cereal maker Kellogg’s. According to a report in […]
France: Pernod Ricard reports 2% annual sales growth
Pernod Ricard, the co-leader in the global wine and spirits business, has released its latest annual financial statements showing organic sales for the full year up 2% to €8,588 million ($9,705 million). “Considering what is still a very challenging environment, the group posted a good business performance”, the company said. Reported sales were up 8%, mainly as […]
Australia: Lion launches radler beer
Lion has recently launched a radler style beer especially for the Australian market. According to a report in Australian Food News, Hahn Radler contains 70% beer and 30% natural lemon compared to a more conventional 50:50 split: Lion is said to have increased the amount of beer after consumer product testing revealed this was the […]
India: Carlsberg doubles its market share
Global brewer Carlsberg has released its latest financial figures in India, revealing that is has managed to almost double its market share in the country to nearly 15% of the Indian beer market in the quarter ended June. “Our Indian business grew 43% organically in a market growing by an estimated 5%. In Q2, our […]
Singapore: Sapporo to test market Japanese wine
Sapporo has announced that it will market a small release of Japanese wines in Singapore in a move designed to test the waters in the southeast Asian market. According to reports in the Japan Times and Nikkan, the company will release a total of 960 bottles comprising four types of red and white wines under […]
South Africa: KWV launches truffle-infused gin
South African firm KWV is said to have launched “its own” Cruxland premium London dry boutique gin, said to have been “hand crafted for a new world gin drinking experience”. According to FastMoving, the gin is made from 100% grape spirits and infused with nine exotic botanicals including rare “Kalahari N’abbas (truffles)”. Development of the […]