Colombia’s largest soda-production company will be entering the Colombian beer market with a Chilean company to challenge the SABMiller, the multinational which controls 98% of current beer sales, according to Bloomberg news.
Postobon, which is owned by entrepreneur Carlos Ardila Lulle and currently produces sweet beverages, will be partnering with Chile’s biggest producer to create a company called Central Cervecera de Colombia with an initial capital injection of $400 million.
The two companies plan to build a factory near Bogota which will produce an equivalent about 15% of Colombia’s current beer market.
The new venture will challenge the dominance of SABMiller, a South African multinational based in London which controls the vast majority of the Colombian market and produces the most widely-consumed beers like Club Colombia, Aguila, Poker, and Pilsen. The Colombian subsidiary of the company is Bavaria S.A.
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Ardila Lulle has a fortune of approximately $3.8 billion and is the third richest person in Colombia. The billionaire and his family have been contending for years with the family of the country’s second wealthiest individual, Alejandro Santo Domingo, in several markets. Santo Domingo’s family has a large stake in SABMiller.