DENMARK: Key Carlsberg shareholder cuts stake

By just-drinks.com editorial team | 23 May 2008

Carlsberg's principal owner, the Carlsberg Foundation, has completed its disposal of rights to shares in connection with the Danish brewer's DK30.5bn ($6.3bn) share issue.

By selling its rights to the stock rather than buying new shares, the Carlsberg Foundation will cut its stake in the brewer to around 25% from over 50%, while still keeping a majority of Carlsberg's key voting shares.

The rights were sold to the company's "joint bookrunners", a group of banks and brokerages that have placed a corresponding number of newly-issued Carlsberg B shares through a bookbuilding with institutional investors in Denmark and internationally.

According to Danish media, bookrunners had sold 32m shares of the total issue of more than 76m shares at DKK490 each.

Carlsberg's shares were trading up 1.8% at DK 509 on Friday.

Last week, the company launched a fully underwritten DKK30.5bn rights issue to repay part of the debt facilities put in place to finance its joint acquisition of Scottish & Newcastle.

Sectors: Beer & cider

Companies: Carlsberg