Also included in the agreement is additional rights to a future payment estimated to be as much as $800m contingent on CVC’s return on its initial investment.
Under the terms of the agreement, funds advised by CVC have agreed to acquire ABI’s operations in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia and Slovakia.
CVC has also agreed to brew and/or distribute Stella Artois, Beck’s, Löwenbräu, Hoegaarden, Spaten and Leffe in the above countries under licence from ABI. ABI will retain rights to brew and distribute Staropramen in several countries including Ukraine, Russia, the US, Germany and the UK.
In addition, ABI will have a right of first offer to reacquire the business should CVC decide to sell in the future.
Carlos Brito, CEO of Anheuser-Busch InBev, said: “The management and employees of our central European businesses are very talented, with extensive knowledge of their respective local markets, and we believe they will have a successful future under CVC’s ownership.”
István Szoke, head of central and eastern Europe at CVC, said: “The acquisition marks the first investment in the region for CVC, and we’re delighted to acquire such a strong business with iconic brands, experienced management and dedicated employees. CVC is committed to developing the group, to be renamed StarBev, into the regional champion and will work with the local management teams and employees to achieve this goal.”
Closing of the transaction is subject to customary conditions, including regulatory clearances. The transaction is expected to close by January 2010. Barclays Capital and Lazard acted as financial advisers to ABI, and Clifford Chance acted as legal adviser.
As part of the transaction, CVC raised approximately $1bn of senior debt financing from a group of international and regional banks. Freshfields acted as legal counsel to CVC.
Source: AB InBev
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