Beijing and Cleveland, Ohio, January, 27, 2004 /Pink Sheets News Service/ -- Calcol Inc. (Pink Sheets: CLCL) confirmed today it has acquired the 20% stake of its local partner China National Food Industry Corp. in their Beijing-based joint venture concentrate manufacturing and bottling plant Sanhe Meile Soft Drinks Co. Ltd. for a cost of US$2.1 million (TWO MILLION ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND) dollars. This will make Calcol's Beijing soft drink plant the first Wholly Owned Foreign Enterprise (WOFE) in China to manufacture, market and distribute foreign branded soft drinks.
CALCOL is currently selling MALIBU-COLA, MALIBU SURF'S UP LEMON-LIME, MALIBU SUNRISE ORANGE in more than 400 stores in Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei Province's 11 medium sized cities, and anticipates entering between 1000-2000 additional retail stores this year. CALCOL plans to introduce new products MALIBU VERRY CHERRY COLA, MALIBU DIET COLA, and MALIBU LEMON SQUEEZE LEMONADE SODA in the China market this Spring. CALCOL is also entering the online music distribution business in China through website www.malibu-colamusic.com.
CALCOL's Beijing bottling plant has a fully paid bottling line to produce 6 million standard cases per year of 600 ml and 1.25 Liter PET bottles, and plans to install a canning line to make 7 million standard cases per year of 350 ml aluminum cans. CALCOL has recently announced plans to expand to two additional plants in the Shenzhen/Guangzhou and Shanghai/Jiangsu areas within the next two years, bringing its distribution capacity in China to 75 million standard cases per year. CALCOL was recently featured in stories by Bloomberg News, Dow Jones Newswires ("Calcol Takes Over China Cola Joint Venture" by Owen Brown 1/02/04), and the Financial Times (FT.COM) ( "INVESTING IN CHINA: Soft drinks is a cut-throat trade by James Kynge, Jan.21, 2004)., and webcast interviews by Ceocast.com, Wallst.net, Wallstreetreporter.com, and theasianinvestor.com.
CALCOL INC. (CLCL)
common stock (par value $.001) involves a high degree of risk, and is a suitable investment only for accredited, institutional, and overseas investors who are able to evaluate the risk and can afford to lose their entire investment. This is not an offer to buy or sell securities, and is for information only.
Included in this release are certain "forward-looking" statements, involving risks and uncertainties, which are covered by the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including statements regarding the Company's financial performance. Such statements are based on management's current expectations and are subject to certain factors, risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results, events and performance to differ materially from those referred to or implied by such statements. In addition, actual future results may differ materially from those anticipated, depending on a variety of factors, including continued maintenance of favorable license arrangements, success of market research identifying new product opportunities, successful introduction of new products, continued product innovation, the success of enhancements to the Company's brand image, sales and earnings growth, ability to attract and retain key personnel, and general economic conditions affecting consumer spending, including uncertainties relating to global political conditions, such as terrorism and "country risk" for a US corporation doing business in a foreign country such as China. Information with respect to important factors that should be considered is contained in the Company's Annual Report. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof. The Company does not intend to update any of the forward-looking statements after the date of this release to conform these statements to actual results or to changes in its expectations, except as may be required by law.
Source: CALCOL INC. http://www.calcol.com, http://www.malibu-cola.com.cn.
Contact: Mr. Ji Jun, Vice President, CALCOL INC., President, Sanhe Meile Soft Drinks Co. Ltd. Beijing. jijun@malibu-cola.com. Mr. Xiao Jian Gong, Assistant Vice President, CALCOL INC., Vice President and Marketing Director, Sanhe Meile Soft Drinks Co. Ltd. Beijing. xiaojiangong@malibu-cola.com.