International Breweries PIc, Ilesha is set to witness a major turnaround in its fortune, following the acquisition of 60.1 per cent stake in the company by a foreign company, Brauhasse International Management of Germany. This was aided by its payment of 3.2 million euros as deposit for shares in the forthcoming offer to enable it maintain its equity holding in the company.
The offer, through which the company intends to raise about Nl.4bn, has been approved by The Nigerian Stock Exchange and is awaiting the approval of the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Confirming this report, Mr. Olaseni Oduwole, General Manager, Sterling Capital Markets, stated that a new management has been appointed to direct the affairs of the company and revitalize its operations, following the determination of the core Investor to reinvigorate the plant.
He said, “over the last one year, the new management has implemented a new strategic initiative, part of which is to recapitalize the company and increase its production capacity to enable it meet the growing demand for its products. It has therefore appointed Sterling Capital Markets Limited as Financial Advisers and Issuing House in its forthcoming Offer.”
 
International Breweries PIc, Ilesha is one of the few indigenous breweries in Nigeria, which commenced operations in 1978, producing the Trophy brand of beer and a non-alcoholic beverage, Betamalt.
It grew rapidly through the late eighties and early nineties, with its products widely patronised, leading to the establishment of depots in Abeokuta, Akure, Ilorin, Iseyin, Ibadan, Lagos and Ogbomosho. It however, suffered capacity under-utilization in the late nineties due to environmental and management challenges before the new management took over in 2005.
 
The Core investor, Brauhasse International, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Warsteiner Group, one of the biggest privately owned breweries in Germany, operating since 1753. Its main product, Warsteiner Premium Verum is sold in 60 countries all over the world, with total sales valued at 510 million Euros in 2005.
Brauhasse International itself commenced operations in 1858 in Germany and in the mid sixties shifted its focus into niche markets overseas, including West Africa.
By 1997, it has completed turnkey projects with total capacity worth over 6 million hectoliters of beer and 1 million hectoliter of soft drinks per annum. These projects cover 5 continents and 20 different countries worldwide, with not less that 13 benefiting from either full management or technical support from Brauhasse. A number of new projects have also recently commenced, while many others are in the planning or construction phase.

Mr. Oduwole stated that Brauhasse’s international exposure will help International Breweries in its repositioning, while arrangements have been concluded for regular supply of high grade malted barley, procurement of spare parts and other inputs to enable it expand its production volume. This he said will soon begin to show in the financial performance of the company. He further noted that with the Core Investor taking up about 60% of the proposed offer, and other identified investors taking up additional 20%, the offer is already fully sold.