Royal Unibrew, the second largest beer company in Denmark with a market share of about 25%, has today announced to enter into an agreement to acquire 100% of Bev.Con at a price of DKK 350 million (US$ 54.67 million) on a debt-free basis. Bev.Con is a marketing company with around 40 employees which sells brands such as Cult Energy, Shaker and Mokaï. Production and logistics of the products are so far carried out by third parties.
Bev. Con was sold by its founder Brian Sørensen, who created Cult back in 1998, when he owned a large club in Aarhus Havn and observed that people got tired early and went home. So he started serving caffeine drinks to keep the guests staying longer and consuming more.
”CULT being the first to introduce energy drinks to the Danish market … had strong influence on the development of the RTD/Cider categories. The acquisition of CULT supports our strategy of being a focused and strong national provider of quality beverages – including energy drinks and RTD/Cider,” said Hans Savonije, CEO of Royal Unibrew. “Through the acquisition, we expect to achieve increased distribution and activation of the CULT portfolio, thus adding value to our shareholders”, he added.
The acquisition fits well into Royal Unibrew’s strategy of being a focused and strong regional beverage provider holding market-leading positions within beverages in the Nordic and Baltic countries supplemented by strong niche positions in e.g. the Italian market and the international markets for malt beverages.
