Sapporo To Buy Sleeman

According to numerous news reports this weekend, Japan's Sapporo Breweries have tendered a bid for Sleeman Breweries.

Details from the Globe & Mail:

Sleeman Breweries Ltd., Canada's third-largest beer maker, has accepted a $300-million takeover offer from Japan's Sapporo Breweries Ltd.

Sapporo's cash bid values the Guelph, Ont., company at $17.50 a share, an 18-per-cent premium on yesterday's closing price of $14.83.

Sleeman's board of directors is recommending shareholders tender to the offer and the company has agreed not to solicit competing bids or it will pay an $8.5-million break fee.

[...]

A Sapporo takeover is likely to be preferred by Sleeman's 700 employees rather than a deal with Molson or Labatt. Had they won control of Sleeman, both were widely expected to close some or all of Sleeman's four breweries and make its products at their own domestic operations.

This last paragraph is quite telling, especially to fans of Unibroue. While there have been some complaints about certain business decisions that Sleeman have made since buying Unibroue, they have made a point of not altering the recipes and brewing process of the existing Unibroue beers, so here's hoping Sapporo will take the same approach.

Discuss this topic in the Bar Towel Forum

Posted by Bar Towel News Editor at August 13, 2006 08:56 AM