Heineken increases stake in India’s United Breweries

Dutch brewing company Heineken International (HIBV) has further increased its stake in India’s United Breweries (UBL) with the acquisition of an additional 39,644,346 ordinary shares.

With this acquisition, Heineken increased its share in the Indian beer manufacturing firm company from 46.5% to 61.5%.

The deal was approved by the Competition Commission of India (CCI), under Section 31(1) of the Competition Act, 2002.

In a statement, CCI said: “HIBV is an investment holding company and is itself not engaged in any business activity. It is a direct/ indirect shareholder for all non-Dutch companies that form part of the Heineken Group.

“Heineken Group is an international group of companies engaged in the production, manufacture, packaging, distribution, marketing and sale of beer, non-alcoholic beer, cider and cider-based beverages and a range of other beverages.”

UBL is principally engaged in the manufacture, sale and distribution of beer in India. The company was owned by Indian businessman Vijay Mallya and produces beer brands such as Kingfisher.

Heineken has been steadily increasing its stake in UBL. In 2008, the company acquired a 37.5% stake through the acquisition of Scottish & Newcastle.

The financial details of the deal have not been disclosed.

Last month, Heineken initiated talks to purchase a majority stake in the South African wine and spirits company Distell Group.

Distell owns a wide range of alcoholic beverage brands such as Savanna, Hunter’s Dry, Nederburg, Durbanville Hills and Amarula.

Heineken’s efforts to acquire Distell, which has a market value of $2.26bn (ZAR31.8bn), could be one of the major deals for the company. However, Heineken has not disclosed, which businesses it is planning to acquire.