Royal Unibrew enters into agreement to sell Caribbean breweries

Company Announcement No 23/2009
12 August 2009





•	Royal Unibrew has entered into a conditional agreement with the Cerveceria
Nacional Dominicana (CND) brewery in the Dominican Republic to sell its shares
of the breweries in Dominica, St. Vincent and Antigua to CND. 
•	Furthermore, an agreement has been made with CND for licence production of
Royal Uni-brew's Vitamalt brand, which will result in Vitamalt gaining ground
in the region. 
•	On an aggregated basis, the sale will reduce Royal Unibrew's interest-bearing
debt by just below DKK 200 million. 
•	The selling price of the shares is equal to their carrying amount.
•	The transaction is expected to be finally closed at the end of 2009 and is
not expected to af-fect the Group's earnings (EBIT) in 2009. 

As mentioned in the Announcement of Annual Results for 2008, a reduction of the
Group's debt level is a strategic main priority, and the agreement entered into
to sell the Caribbean breweries is a result of the initiatives launched to
achieve this. 

The sale comprises Royal Unibrew's shares of St. Vincent Breweries Ltd.
(76.5%), Antigua Brewery Ltd. (93%), Antigua PET Plant Ltd. (75%) and Dominica
Brewery & Beverages Ltd. (58%). 

The total consideration for the shares amounts to USD 31 million (DKK 160
million). Moreover, the purchasers will take over the debts of the companies.
On an aggregated basis, the transac-tion will reduce Royal Unibrew's
interest-bearing debt by just below DKK 200 million. The net realisable value
of the shares is equal to their carrying amount. On a full-year basis, the
Group's earnings (before minority shareholders' share) will be reduced by DKK
30 million (EBITDA) and DKK 10 million (EBIT), respectively. 

The agreements with CND, which is the market leader in the Dominican Republic,
comprise partly sale of Royal Unibrew's shares of the breweries in Antigua
(including a soft drinks facil-ity), Dominica and St. Vincent, and partly an
agreement for licence production and sale of Vi-tamalt at all the divested
breweries and in the Dominican Republic. The introduction of Vita-malt in the
Dominican Republic means that, for the first time, Vitamalt will be distributed
in a major, Spanish-speaking market in the region. 

The agreements are subject to, among other things, approval by the government
in Antigua and the attainment of certain licensors' acceptance of the change in
ownership. The transaction is expected closed at the end of 2009. Consequently,
the transaction is not expected to affect the Group's earnings (EBIT) in 2009. 

In connection with the sale of the majority holdings in the Caribbean
companies, the business model for the Group's malt drinks segment will be
changed. The Vitamalt brand, which is the number 3 global malt drinks brand in
terms of size, as well as the Group's other brands in this segment will in
future be sold either on an export basis or produced on licence in selected
mar-kets. The malt drinks segment still represents a significant part of Royal
Unibrew's activities, and the segment shows strong earnings. 
 Please direct any questions to me at tel +45 5677 1513.

Yours sincerely
Royal Unibrew A/S


Henrik Brandt
CEO