Coors Sells Idle Cape Hill Brewery

BIRMINGHAM, ENGLAND-Adolph Coors Company of Golden, CO, has sold its idle Cape Hill Brewery here to U.K.-based residential developer Persimmon PLC for £26 million ($46 million). As part of the agreement Persimmon is to pay about 25% of the purchase price this year and the remainder in 2005.Coors, which ceased brewing operations on the 80-acre property in late 2002, says it sold the property as part of the company’s objective to convert non-core assets to cash, accelerate debt repayments and grow returns on capital. Coors estimates that the property sale will result in a one-time pretax gain of £4 million ($7 million), which likely will be recorded in the fourth quarter, after all of the 2004 payment has been received.Persimmon is the UK’s leading homebuilder, constructing more than 12,000 homes a year. In 2003, the company produced net pre-tax profits of £352.5 million ($643.5 million), a 32% increase from 2002. Adolph Coors Company is the world’s ninth-largest brewer. Its principal subsidiary, Coors Brewing Company, is the third-largest brewer in the U.S. The company’s operating unit in the UK, Coors Brewers Limited, is the UK’s second-largest brewer. In 2003, the overall company produced a net income of $174.6 million or revenue of $4 billion.