SABMiller to buy Grolsch

November 20, 2007: Dutch brewer Grolsch is to be purchased by global giant SABMiller for € 816 million.

Graham Mackay, chief executive of SABMiller, said Grolsch would provide a powerful addition to his company's international brand portfolio.

"Within the SABMiller family Grolsch will continue to build on almost 400 years of brewing heritage, and together we will establish new positions in the most important emerging beer markets around the world," he said.

Ab Pasman, chief executive of Grolsch, added: “In addition to financial considerations, it was important for us to give a lot of attention to the interests of our employees, customers and our home region.

"We were doing a good job executing our independent strategy. When we were asked to consider SABMiller’s proposal the key question was if greater value could be achieved than through our own existing strategy.

"Since this appeared to be the case we entered into discussions and we believe that SABMiller’s intended offer delivers benefits to all of our stakeholders."

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