THE shareholders of International Breweries Plc, Intafact Beverages Limited and Pabod Breweries Limited, have approved resolutions authorising the merger of the three companies. Shareholder approvals were granted during separate court ordered meetings of each of the merging entities which held on Wednesday, October 18 and Thursday October 19.

A joint press statement from the companies made available to Realnews stated that prior to the approval by the shareholders of the merging entities; the requisite pre-merger approvals had been received from the Securities and Exchange Commission, SEC, and the Nigerian Stock Exchange, NSE. With the shareholder approvals in place, the SEC and The NSE will now be re-approached for their final approvals.

An application will also be made to the Federal High Court to sanction the merger, after which, the merger becomes effective. FCMB Capital Markets Limited and Odujinrin and Adefulu are advisers to International Breweries Plc while Stanbic IBTC Capital Limited and Udo Udoma and Belo-Osagie are advisers to Intafact Beverages Limited and Pabod Breweries Limited.

Sunday Akintoye Omole, chairman, Board of International Breweries Plc, said: “We are of the opinion that the merger will create a platform where significant synergies can be obtained for the benefit of our shareholders, employees, customers, distributors, suppliers and the economy as a whole.”

Commenting on the merger, Nnaemeka Alfred Achebe, chairman of the Board of Intafact Beverages Ltd, said: “It is envisaged that the merger will be beneficial to all stakeholders involved, while providing the new entity with an extremely compelling economic opportunity.”

Gustav Wilhemus Van Heerden, chairman of the Board of Directors of Pabod Breweries Limited, said the merger would improve, and expand growth prospects for the new entity and would also maximise value for all stakeholders.

International Breweries Plc commenced production with the launch of its flagship product, Trophy Lager in December 1978. The company now produces Beta Malt as well as Castle Milk Stout, Castle Lager, Redds, Hero Lager, 1960 Rootz and Grand Malt which are produced and sold under co-packaging and franchise agreements.

Intafact Beverages Limited was first incorporated in February 2007. The company’s principal activities include the manufacturing, distribution and sale of a variety of beverages such as Hero Lager, as well as Eagle Lager, Trophy Lager, Castle Milk Stout, Grand Malt, Beta Malt, Chibuku, 1960 Rootz, Redds and Super Shake Yogurt drinks.

Pabod Breweries Limited was incorporated in 1978 under the leadership of Melford Okilo. The company’s principal activities include the manufacturing, distribution and sale of a variety of beverages and its brands include its flagship product Grand Malt, as well as Castle Milk Stout, Eagle Lager, Hero Lager, Trophy Lager, Beta Malt, Redds and 1960 Rootz which are produced and sold under co-packaging and franchise agreements.

Combined, the three companies, which are subsidiaries of AB InBev, will be one of the biggest beverage manufacturing and distribution companies in Africa, based on installed production capacity.

– Oct 20, 2017 @ 16:57 GMT |