Carlsberg Brewery Hong Kong, a subsidiary of Carlsberg Asia, and TCC International have entered into an agreement to each acquire 25% in Laos's only brewery.

The remaining shares are held by the government of Laos. The members of the joint venture have not disclosed the price of the acquisition.

The Lao Brewery was recently upgraded through the addition of a new automatic brewhouse and packaging lines. The present yearly production is around 600,000hl of beer and the capacity is 1m hl.

The Lao Brewery is the only brewery in Laos, and it has a 98% market share.

The population of Laos is 5.6m with a yearly growth rate of 2.5%. The yearly GDP growth is 4% and the consumption of beer is expected to increase as a result of the economic growth, Carlsberg said in a statement.