Coors president ‘excited’ over potential from takeover deal

THE president of brewer Molson Coors yesterday said he was “more excited than ever” about the potential benefits from the group’s £2.1 billion acquisition of rival StarBev.

Peter Swinburn’s comments came as the North American company, finally completed the deal to take over StarBev from CVC Capital Partners as it looks for a greater presence in developing markets.

The group, whose portfolio of beers includes Blue Moon, Carling and Coors Light, outbid rival Asahi Group of Japan, an early front-runner, to secure agreement for the deal earlier this year. StarBev’s flagship brand, Staropramen, is sold in around 30 countries.

Molson Coors’ business is concentrated in the mature markets of the UK, Canada and the United States.

The deal – which has already been cleared by the European Commission – will help to lift the percentage of its revenue coming from outside those markets, from the low single digits to the mid-teens.

CVC had bought StarBev in 2009 from the world’s biggest brewer, Anheuser-Busch InBev.