South Africa and United Kingdom-listed SABMiller, one of the world’s largest brewers by volume plans to sell its entire 21% stake in South African retailer Edgars Consolidated Stores (Edcon) via a private placement beginning on Monday, the group said in a statement.
Announcing the sale on Monday, SABMiller said the disposal of 11,2-million shares in Edcon, would be in the form of a global private placement to South African and international institutional investors outside the US, and to qualified institutional buyers (QIBs) inside the US, via an accelerated bookbuilding exercise to be led by joint bookrunners Citigroup and JP Morgan.
The bookbuilding would begin immediately and was expected to close on Thursday, July 8.
SABMiller initially acquired its holding in Edcon in 1982, the majority of which was unbundled prior to SABMiller’s initial public offering on the London Stock Exchange in 1999. The group said the final disposal of its residual stake in Edcon was in line with its stated strategy of focusing on its core brewing and beverage operations.
Edcon would not receive any proceeds from the sale, the group added. As the announcement was made after market close, Edcon’s shares did not react to the news. The stock closed 2% lower on the day, at R148 from R150,99 at Friday’s close, with 41 189 shares having changed hands in 51 transactions on the day.
SABMiller’s 2003/04 lager sales volumes totaled in excess of 137-million hectolitres. It has a brewing presence in over 40 countries across four continents, while outside the US, it is one of the largest bottlers of Coca- Cola products in the world.
In the year ended 31 March 2004, the group generated $1,39-billion pre-tax profit from a turnover of $12,645-billion. SABMiller is listed on the London and Johannesburg stock exchanges. – I-Net Bridge