Thursday, March 28

Danish Brewer Carlsberg Plans India IPO

The popular beer manufacturer Carlsberg is working out on a local initial public offering (IPO) of its Indian business. The Danish brewer is reportedly looking for potential i-bankers for the share sale over the next few weeks.

The Carlsberg Group is a Denmark-based company that is one of the leading brewery groups in the world today. The company is mainly known for its large portfolio of beer. It started its operations in India in 2007 but the Indian customers have been consuming its beer much before that. The credit of the success of Carlsberg’s products globally and in India can be given to the quality consciousness and the technological proficiency developed by the breweries. And because of these attributes, Carlsberg has been positioned on the third rank among the world’s largest brewers.

The brewer had reported a 2 per cent decrease in Indian volumes in the year 2017, even as it toughened its market share to 17 per cent market share for the year.  The year 2017 was not favourable for the maker of Tuborg beer because of the declined volumes due to the introduction of GST and highway liquor ban. In the year 2016, the company witnessed regulatory problems such as alcohol ban in Bihar. That year, the company’s India operations recorded 16 per cent volume growth.  Carlsberg’s India sales volume rose more than 30 per cent in the quarter ended March from a year earlier.

The Danish brewer has defined its goals and that includes premiumisation which would increase the organic growth in Asia. Besides, it aims at improving profitability and also improved margins in Western Europe and also rebalancing the focus towards top-line growth in Eastern Europe.