Little Creatures looks at $7.7m Freo option to spread wings

The Fremantle-based brewer of boutique brand Little Creatures has raised the possibility of a $7.7 million expansion of its high profile Fishing Boat Harbour site as an alternative to a previously mooted option of building at Jarrahdale.

Little World Beverages Ltd said it will formally assess expanding its operations to 42 Mews Road, next door to its existing premises, and has entered into a conditional agreement to purchase the leasehold interests of the site at a proposed aggregate acquisition cost of $7.7 million.

However, chief executive Jason Marinko was not prepared to rule out the company's earlier conditional agreement to build the facility on 5 hectares in Jarrahdale.

"We are fortunate to have more than one option and will be continuing due diligence on the Jarrahdale site," he said.

Both sites remain subject to due diligence and approval processes examining cost and engineering feasibility of both sites.

In an announcement to the ASX, the company said its preliminary assessments indicated the facility could be established on the Fremantle site within the project costs in the company's 2005 prospectus, through using the site's existing building and infrastructure.

The full announcement is pasted below:

Little World Beverages Limited has entered into conditional agreements to purchase the leasehold interests at 42 Mews Road, next to its Fremantle facility, enabling it to assess the viability of expanding its operations onto this site. The proposed aggregate acquisition cost is $7.7million.

The agreements are conditional upon the satisfactory outcome of a due diligence and approval process which will examine the cost and engineering feasibility of expanding on to the site and also deal with regulatory approvals, including local authority and liquor licensing approvals. The company's preliminary assessment is that with the existing buildings and infrastructure on the site it should be feasible to establish the planned expanded brewing capacity within the overall project cost foreshadowed in the company's prospectus dated 4 October 2005.

The Company has been assessing a greenfield site in Jarrahdale that is currently also subject to a due diligence process.

Jason Marinko, CEO, announced "The opportunity to secure the premises next door has arisen which provides an alternative solution to securing our future capacity. We are fortunate to have more than one option and will be continuing due diligence on the Jarrahdale site."