Heineken, the Dutch brewery giant, has announced plans to acquire South Africa’s Distell Group Holdings and Namibia Breweries Ltd to establish a Southern Africa drinks group worth 4 billion euros ($4.6 billion). The Distell deal is subject to shareholder approval.
The acquisition of Distell would launch the world’s second-largest beer maker’s entry into wine and spirits.
Heineken will pay 1.3 billion euros in cash and add its existing South African business, to secure at least 65% of the new business.
The deal will value Distell at about 40.1 billion rands ($2.6 billion) or 180 rands per share, Distell said. Meanwhile, Heineken will also take control of regional partner Namibian Breweries Ltd (NBL), with a current market valuation of about 400 million euros.
Chief Executive Dolf van den Brink said: “We are very excited to bring together three strong businesses to create a regional beverage champion, perfectly positioned to capture significant growth opportunities in Southern Africa.
“Distell is a highly regarded, resilient business with leading brands, a talented workforce and a strong track record of innovation and growth in Africa. With NBL, there are exciting opportunities to expand premium beer and cider in Namibia and grow the iconic Windhoek brand beyond its home market.
“Together we will be able to better serve our consumers and customers through a unique combination of multi-category leading brands and a strengthened route-to-market. The businesses share common values derived from their family heritage, long-term perspectives, entrepreneurial spirit, and care for people and the planet.
“We have successfully built our business in Africa over 100 years. Today’s announcement is a vote of confidence in the long-term prospects of South Africa and Namibia and we commit to being a strong partner for growth and to make a positive impact in the communities in which we operate.”
“Together, this partnership has the potential to leverage the strength of Heineke ’s global footprint with our leading brands to create a formidable, diverse beverage company for Africa. I am excited for what lies ahead as we look to combine our strong and popular brands and highly complementary geographical footprints to create a world-class African company in the alcohol beverage sector. Our combined entity will grow our local expertise and insights to better serve consumers across the region”, said Richard Rushton, Distell CEO.
For Sven Thieme, NBL CEO, “What we have achieved with NBL is truly amazing, but the time has come to unleash its full potential, by giving NBL access to the world. Having worked with Heineken for many years and knowing that they too are passionate about beer and share similar family values and culture to that of O&L, we are confident that Heineken is best placed to do just that.”
