Coca-Cola Amatil (CCA) Chief Executive Terry Davis is not likely to change his mind about the current $7.6b takeover bid tabled by Lion Nathan, believing it to be “half-baked”. He has left the door open to a deal, however, with the right conditions. CCA told shareholders on Monday that Lion Nathan had launched an unsolicited takeover bid for Australia’s largest bottler of soft drinks, in an endeavour to create Australia’s largest beverage company. Coca-Cola Amatil informed... ...Read more »

The Board of Coca-Cola Amatil has decided to fend off the takeover offer made by Lion Nathan, believing it not to be in the best interests of their shareholders. Yesterday they noted “material deficiencies” in the offer made by Lion Nathan, which valued Australia’s largest soft drink bottler at around 10.8 x FY2008 earnings (or about $7.6b). The Board’s main concern is that the price to earnings multiple value of 10.8 is below the other major beverage deals made in Oceania... ...Read more »

Lion Nathan Limited has confirmed that it is in discussions with Coca-Cola Amatil Limited (CCA) regarding a potential combination of the two companies, which would result in Lion Nathan acquiring all of the issued shares in CCA. The announcement was made just before midday, after they had earlier asked for a trading halt to be placed on their shares until an announcement was made. The proposed combination would create the leading Australian and New Zealand beverage company, with a diversified portfolio... ...Read more »

Australia’s largest soft drink bottler, Coca-Cola Amatil, has today informed shareholders that brewer Lion Nathan has made a A$7.61b takeover offer for CCA. The news comes following rumours circulating of a pending merger between Lion Nathan and Coca-Cola Amatil (CCA). Lion Nathan, Australia’s second largest brewer, entered a trading halt this morning in the wake of fresh rumours in the Australian Financial Review that merger discussions with Australia’s biggest soft drink bottler... ...Read more »

In response to a recent survey establishing a lack of awareness of beer ingredients, a group of brewers from Lion Nathan have teamed to ’set the record straight’ and show consumers that their product is natural. A PureProfile national survey of over 1,000 Australian adults, conducted earlier this month, discovered a staggering nine out of every ten consumers were unaware of the ingredients in beer. To counter this lack of knowledge some of Lion Nathan’s most popular beers will... ...Read more »

Lion Nathan Australia (LNA) has announced today that its spirit and ready-to-drink brands, McKenna Bourbon and Inner Circle Rum, will be sold in Australia exclusively through Bacardi-Lion, the 50/50 joint venture between Lion Nathan and Bacardi Martini, from October 1. Andrew Reeves, LNA Managing Director, indicates the decision was made to strengthen the portfolio of Bacardi-Lion. “Following the successful launch of McKenna Bourbon and Inner Circle Rum through LNA and the widespread distribution... ...Read more »

Brewer Lion Nathan has bought American wine importer Cumulus Wine Inc. (CMI) - a subsidiary of the NSW-based Cumulus Group. Lion Nathan plan to use the purchase to establish a new wine platform for their premium Australian and New Zealand wine portfolio in the US market. Lion Nathan will utilise the business to sell both wines from the existing Cumulus portfolio including Rolling as well as wines from Lion Nathan’s New Zealand and Australian operations including Petaluma. Lion Nathan Wine Group... ...Read more »

In response to rising production costs some brewers are shifting their business focus to target the potentially lucrative ‘luxury’ market, while many others look to the premium market to drive growth. Foster’s has recently created Crown Ambassador Reserve lager to kick-start their push into the “luxury” category, according to AAP. The lager, which will be released as a limited edition of 5000, will retail at a price of $60. The issue with creating such a beer, though,... ...Read more »

A fall in sales of alcopops has been recorded following the marked increase in taxes applied to the beverages by the Rudd Government. Lion Nathan boss, Rob Murray, has claimed that sales of alcopops may have fallen by up to 30 per cent since the price hike about a month ago. “The first 4-6 weeks were always going to be the worst in terms of a drop in sales,” Mr Murray was quoted as saying in the Herald Sun. “It has been a substantial reduction in sales so far, but we will... ...Read more »

Premium alcoholic beverages company, Lion Nathan, has posted strong profit figures despite adverse weather conditions, increasing commodity prices and higher fuel costs. Their operating net profit after tax (NPAT) increased by 7.0% to $167.7 million for the six months to 31 March 2008, with sales rises of 7.9% attributed to their successful attempts to get drinkers to shift to higher equity national and premium brands. “The strong revenue growth reflects successful brand investment... ...Read more »