Khetan Group selling Carlsberg shares for nearly 98 billion rupees

KATHMANDU: Khetan Group has offered a big ‘deal’ to sell additional stake in Gorkha Brewery to beer maker Carlsberg. According to this, Carlsberg of Danish origin has offered about 98 billion rupees to buy about 33 percent shares of Gorkha Brewery and Carlsberg India, which is affiliated with Khetan Group.

This deal has been proposed for about $744 million or about 98 billion rupees. Rajendra Khetan, who is the Chairman of Khetan Group, has 10 percent share in Nepal’s Gorkha Brewery. Apart from that, Carlsberg South Asia Pte Ltd (CSAPL) of Singapore owns 90 percent of the shares.

SAPL Holdings Pte Ltd (CSAPLH), owned by non-resident Nepali CP Khetan, has a 33 percent share in CSAPL so far. According to the proposal, CP is now trying to sell its 33 percent share of CSAPLH to CSAPL for about 98.67 billion rupees.

According to the proposal, if the ‘deal’ is completed, 33 percent of Khetan Group’s shares in Gorkha Brewery through CSAPLH and 33 percent of Carlsberg India’s shares will belong to Carlsberg Denmark’s CSAPL. Accordingly, 90 percent shares in Gorkha Brewery and 100 percent shares in Carlsberg India will be owned by Carlsberg. This means that Carlsberg will remain at the management and decision-making level of both these companies.

Few years ago, there was a dispute between Carlsberg and Khetan Group over who would lead the management of Gorkha Brewery. That is why the case was brought to Singapore’s arbitration tribunal for dispute resolution. The tribunal gave Carlsberg the right to call Khetan Group’s shares in CSAPL.

Based on that, it was determined that the value of CP Khetan-owned CSAPLH’s shares in the company’s CSAPL was equal to $744 million. Based on that, Carlsberg announced on Tuesday that CSAPLH has proposed to sell shares.

If the deal is completed according to this proposal, it will be one of the biggest deals in the history of Nepal. According to this, Rajendra Khetan’s 10 percent share in Gorkha Brewery will remain.