After the recent buyout of Raya Brewery by BGI Ethiopia, the latter is mulling over acquiring the shares of Zebidar Brewery, a new entrant to the Ethiopian beer industry.
According to sources close to the matter, BGI has already proposed the buyout and majority shareholders of the brewery have already agreed to the proposal.
Zebidar Brewery is located 167 kilometers south of Addis Ababa in Gurage Zone of the Southern Region State and has a capacity of producing 350,000 hectoliters of beer per annum. It was established with an initial investment of 1.3 billion birr.
Although the exact amount of the buyout is not yet disclosed, sources told The Reporter that it is no less than the one offered to buy the shares of Raya. BGI bought the shares of Raya offering seven folds for the shares from the original price. The par value of one share was one thousand birr and BGI had to pay close to two billion birr for the shareholders that decided to transfer their shares. BGI paid 2.5 billion birr in total to acquire the shares of Raya.
Zebidar’s 60 percent share is held by Unibra, a Belgian company, and the remaining shares are owned by Zhemar General Industries SC. Zhemar has more than 2,000 shareholders. Zebidar’s Brewery rests on 150,000 square meters of land.
