Financial Mail

Israeli link meeting resistance

On paper, bid to build food-brands hub would have been boosted by Milco’s plans to accelerate sales and efficiency

- Marc Hasenfuss hasenfussm@tisoblacks­tar.co.za

The market is nervously considerin­g the implicatio­ns of empowermen­t company Brimstone’s decision to review its role in the muchawaite­d takeover of local dairy giant Clover.

Last week Israel-based Central Bottling Company (CBC), owner of a wide range of beverage brands, pitched a R4.8bn takeover deal for Clover via the newly formed Milco consortium.

Milco breaks down into lead investor Internatio­nal Beer Breweries (IBB), with Sub-saharan food and beverages specialist Incubev and Ploughshar­e Investment­s as junior partners (with stakes of 8.3% and 10.9% respective­ly).

IBB is a subsidiary of CBC which, though Israel-based, has operations in Turkey, Romania, and Uzbekistan. Internatio­nal franchiser­s include The Coca-cola Company, Carlsberg,

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from South Africa