Molson Coors gulps down Cobra Beer

American brewer Molson Coors has acquired a majority stake in the Karan Bilimoria-owned Cobra Beer in Britain. It will pay £14 million (around Rs 108 crore) for a 50.1 per cent stake in a new joint venture company called Cobra Beer Partnership; Bilimoria will own the remaining 49.9 per cent and continue as its chairman. Molson Coors will produce and market Cobra beer in the United Kingdom where it is sold in 6,000 restaurants, a majority of which offer specialities from the Indian sub-continent.

Bilimoria was forced to put the company into administration after failing to secure a sale or a company voluntary arrangement. Bilimoria had tried hard last year to sell his company for around £180-200 million (Rs 1,350-1,500 crore).

Cobra’s Indian business — Cobra Indian Beer — however, has been kept away from the ambit of the deal. It will now be an independent company which will be majority-owned by Bilimoria. There are other shareholders also in the company. Bilimoria said a new “model” for shareholing was under evaluation. Established in 2002, Cobra’s Indian sales grew 35 per cent in the three months to 31 January, 2009.