Carlsberg buys Greek rival to boost market share

Danish brewer Carlsberg said Tuesday it would take a majority stake in Greece's Olympic Brewery, the country's third largest player, giving it a market share of 29 percent.
"The Greek market offers interesting opportunities. We have been very pleased with the performance of Mythos Brewery since we took over the business," chief executive Joergen Buhl Rasmussen said in a statement.
The Copenhagen-based company took over the second largest Greek brewery, Mythos, as part of its joint acquisition with Heineken of Britain's Scottish and Newcastle in 2008.
Heineken is Greece's largest brewer with a market share of 55 percent.
"The combination of Olympic Brewery's strong local brand, Fix, and the Carlsberg Group's local power brand Mythos and our international premium portfolio will create a very strong product portfolio," the Danish group said.
The new company, which will be 51 percent owned by Carlsberg, will benefit from synergies in "procurement, production and distribution," it said.
The value of the transaction was not disclosed.