Japanese group Asahi will acquire the Eastern Europe portfolio of the beer producer SABMiller, including the operations in Romania, in a transaction worth EUR 7.3 billion.

SABMiller, the second largest producer of beer worldwide, is present in the local market through Ursus Breweries, which is the biggest local beer producer.

The Ursus Breweries portfolio includes Romanian brands such as Ursus, Timisoreana, Ciucas, Stejar, Azuga, as well as international brands such as Redd's, Peroni Nastro Azzurro, Grolsch, and Pilsner Urquell. The company had sales of EUR 356 million and a net profit of EUR 10 million in 2015, according to official data from the Finance Ministry. It also had over 1,400 employees.

This will be the largest M&A transaction in Romania this year. SABMiller was recently taken over by the Belgian group Anheuser-Busch InBev (ABInbev), the largest beer producer in the world. The two groups need to sell some of their assets to have their deal approved by competition authorities.

Asahi will buy the SAB Miller factories in Romania, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia, according to The Wall Street Journal. The Japanese group also bought the Peroni and Grolsch beer brands from AB Inbev earlier this year.

editor@romania-insider.com