The Danish brewing firm Carlsberg acquired the majority of Finland's second largest beer manufacturer, Sinebrychoff ("Koff"), for an undisclosed sum from majority shareholder Rettig, an industrial firm. Carlsberg now holds 60 per cent of Koff and Rettig holds the remaining 40 per cent of the shares with Carlsberg having an option to buy these shares. Koff is expected to have a turnover of around 300 million USD this year. The deal is subject to approval from competition authorities both from Finland and the EU.
The acquisition will strengthen Carlsberg's position as one of the world's leading breweries. Carlsberg has 67 factories in 40 different countries over the world and its last year turnover was around 2.8 billion USD. Koff and Carlsberg have had close ties for 25 years, and one of the main reasons for the acquisition was that Koff now needs cash to finance expansion into the growing Russian market.
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ARTICLE
10 October 1997