Heineken acquires breweries in Nigeria
Family-owned brewing company Heineken announced on 12 January that it has acquired controlling interests in five breweries in Nigeria as it continues its expansion in emerging markets.
The breweries acquired include two holding companies of the Nigerian-based Sona Group, giving Heineken access to Sona, IBBI, Benue, Life and Champion breweries. The financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Heineken also said that it would consider the possibility of consolidating the acquired breweries into its existing business in Nigeria, but gave no timetable.
Heineken's presence in Africa began in 1900 when it first started to export beer into West Africa. But in recent years has made much greater inroads into fast growing emerging markets, buying breweries in China and Russia. More recently it signed a distribution partnership with India's leading brewer, United Breweries Limited.
Heineken was founded in 1864 when Gerard Adriaan Heineken bought the Haystack brewery in Amsterdam. The Heineken family holding company, L'Arche Green NV, owns 58% of Heineken Holdings NV. It is the third-largest brewer in the world with 2009 revenues of €14.7 billion.
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