United States Securities and Exchange Commission Washington, D.C
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UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549 FORM 20-F REGISTRATION STATEMENT PURSUANT TO SECTION 12(b) OR (g) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 X ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 For the fiscal year ended December 31, 1999 TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15 (d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 For the transition period from _____________ to _____________ Commission file number 0-20486 COMPAÑIA CERVECERIAS UNIDAS S.A. (Exact name of Registrant as specified in its charter) UNITED BREWERIES COMPANY, INC. (Translation of Registrant’s name into English) Republic of Chile (Jurisdiction of incorporation or organization) Bandera 84, Sixth Floor, Santiago, Chile (56-2) 670-3000 (Address of principal executive offices) _________________________________________ Securities registered or to be registered pursuant to section 12(b) of the Act. Title of each class Name of each exchange on which registered Common Stock, in the form of New York Stock Exchange American Depositary Shares Securities registered or to be registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act. None Securities for which there is a reporting obligation pursuant to Section 15(d) of the Act. None Indicate the number of outstanding shares of each of the issuer’s classes of capital or common stock as of the close of the period covered by the annual report. Common stock, with no par value: 318,502,872 Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15 (d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. YES X NO____ Indicate by check mark which financial statement item the registrant has elected to follow. ITEM 17 ITEM 18 X . Table of Contents (Click Below) Page Introduction....................................................................................................................................................................ii Exchange Rates............................................................................................................................................................iii Incorporation of Certain Documents by Reference.......................................................................................................iv PART I...........................................................................................................................................................................1 ITEM 1: Description of Business...................................................................................................................................1 1.1 Summary........................................................................................................................................................1 1.2 Historical Background ....................................................................................................................................3 1.3 The Company’s Beer Business......................................................................................................................4 1.3.1 The Company’s Beer Business in Chile.................................................................................................4 1.3.2 The Company’s Beer Business in Argentina........................................................................................11 1.3.3 The Company’s Beer Business in Croatia...........................................................................................19 1.4 The Company’s Soft Drinks and Mineral Water Business...........................................................................19 1.4.1 The Company’s Soft Drinks and Mineral Water Business in Chile......................................................19 1.4.2 The Company’s Soft Drinks and Mineral Water Business in Argentina...............................................29 1.5 The Company’s Wine Business...................................................................................................................29 1.6 The Company’s Other Businesses...............................................................................................................36 1.7 Capital Expenditures....................................................................................................................................36 1.8 Research and Development.........................................................................................................................38 1.9 Employees...................................................................................................................................................39 1.10 Government Regulation...............................................................................................................................40 1.11 Environmental Matters.................................................................................................................................42 1.12 Risk Factors.................................................................................................................................................43 ITEM 2: Description of Property..................................................................................................................................46 ITEM 3: Legal Proceedings.........................................................................................................................................49 ITEM 4: Control of Registrant......................................................................................................................................50 ITEM 5: Nature of Trading Market...............................................................................................................................51 ITEM 6: Exchange Controls and Other Limitations Affecting Security Holders...........................................................52 ITEM 7: Taxation.........................................................................................................................................................54 7.1 Chilean Tax Considerations.........................................................................................................................54 ITEM 8: Selected Financial Data................................................................................................................................58 8.1 Dividend Policy and Dividends.....................................................................................................................60 ITEM 9: Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.........................61 9.1 Introduction..................................................................................................................................................61 9.2 Summary of Operations...............................................................................................................................61 9.3 Results of Operations..................................................................................................................................62 9.4 Results of Operations for Years Ended December 31, 1998, 1997 and 1996.............................................63 9.5 Liquidity and Capital Resources..................................................................................................................68 9.6 Impact of Inflation.........................................................................................................................................69 9.7 U.S. GAAP Reconciliation............................................................................................................................69 ITEM 9A: Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk......................................................................70 ITEM 10: Directors and Officers of Registrant............................................................................................................74 ITEM 11: Compensation of Directors and Officers......................................................................................................75 ITEM 12: Options to Purchase Securities from Registrant or Subsidiaries.................................................................75 ITEM 13: Interest of Management in Certain Transactions.........................................................................................76 PART II........................................................................................................................................................................77 ITEM 14: Description of Securities to be Registered..................................................................................................77 PART III.......................................................................................................................................................................77 ITEM 15: Default Upon Senior Securities...................................................................................................................77 ITEM 16: Changes in Securities and Changes in Security for Registered Securities.................................................77 PART IV.......................................................................................................................................................................77