| ||
| ||
| ||
 |
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Foster's targets A$1.4bn sell-off
SYDNEY, Australia (CNN) -- Australian beer and wine giant Foster's Group aims to raise Aust. $1.4 billion ($920 million) by spinning off its hotel, gaming and retail liquor operations. Foster's said Tuesday it planned to sell its Australian Leisure and Hospitality (ALH) division through an initial public offer. ALH is Australia's biggest hotel manager, with 131 pubs, about 260 liquor sales points and more than 5000 gaming machines. Foster's said that in addition to the IPO, a separate property trust would acquire the group's 100 freehold hotel properties. Foster's CEO Ted Kunkel said the ALH business was not seen as essential to building brand equity across the group's wine and beer businesses. Its beer brands include Foster's, VB, Carlton and Cascade while key wine brands include Wolf Blass, Yellowglen and Beringer. Foster's spent $1.6 billion in 2000 to buy U.S.-based Beringer Wines. Analysts expect Foster's will use the money raised from the ALH spin-off to buy more beer and wine assets, possibly in the United States. They say Foster's is unlikely to target the troubled Australian wine group Southcorp, which was dumped by investors earlier this year after a shock profit warning and writedowns. Southcorp's brands include Rosemount, Lindemans and Penfolds. In its statement Tuesday, Foster's said that if it could not find value-creating investment opportunities, it would use the funds to reduce debt and or make a return to shareholders. Foster's shares closed Tuesday 0.9 percent lower at A$4.39.
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
