Carlsberg blows India bugle with Himneel buy
Carlsberg is set to party in India. The Danish brewer is entering an agreement to buy Khemkas-controlled Himneel Breweries for around Rs 35 crore, sources said. The deal, an in-principle one, is being routed through Carlsberg’s subsidiary, South Asia Breweries. This could be the global brewing giant’s foray into the booming Indian beer market.
Carlsberg, sources added, was likely to pay roughly Rs 30 crore to the creditors, IFCI and Dena Bank, and the remaining part to the promoter for transferring the licence. Himneel with installed capacity of 1.5 lakh hectolitres had turned sick, and the creditors had sought expressions of interest for recovering the principal amount.
Sources said the domestic biggies like United Breweries (UB) and SABMiller have looked at the plant, but stayed away from making an offer. Both UB and SABMiller have been facing capacity constraints and have been on the lookout for capacity acquisitions.
It’s unclear though whether Carlsberg is entering the market solo or through a partner. Carlsberg in conjunction with Khetan Group, a business family of Indian origin partnering the beer giant in the neighbouring Nepal, has obtained a greenfield brewery licence in Alwar district of Rajasthan.
Meanwhile, talk is rife about the possibility of Carlsberg aligning with Radico Khaitan, the second-largest domestic spirits company, for a joint venture. Radico has stated that it could look at forging a JV with a global brewer in the near future.
India’s beer market is witnessing robust volume sales with depletions jumping 25% in the first half of the current financial year, ’06-07. The market, which closed at 108 million cases (of 7.8 litre each), is currently dominated by UB and SABMiller.
The booming market has caught the fancy of most global brewers with Asia Pacific Breweries (APB) and Anheuser-Busch finalising their respective plans for India foray.
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