Vietnam: Carlsberg still hopes to get a stake in Vietnamese state-owned brewer Hanoi Beer Company

Danish brewer Carlsberg hopes that a memorandum of understanding with a Vietnamese rival, which will soon offer shares to the public, will allow it to make further inroads into the country’s dynamic market for beer, Thanhnien News reported February 7.

The state-owned Hanoi Beer Company (Habeco), the country's second largest brewer, recently announced plans to begin operating this year as an equitized company, offering a potentially lucrative investment for foreign brewers.

The announcement is particularly exciting for Carlsberg, which has already established links with Habeco for a possible partnership in the country.

The company views Vietnam as a driving force in the development of the region's beer market. Expected average annual growth for beer production in Vietnam is around eight per cent, according to Carlsberg's own figures.

This, the company expects will see beer sales in the country - which totalled 15.2 million hectolitres in 2006, rise to 28.1 million hectolitres by 2015, making the market the third largest in Asia.

Under the terms of the equitization, the Vietnamese government will retain a 76 percent stake of Habeco, with the remaining 24 percent distributed between staff and investors.

Of this 24 per cent share, only 10 percent will be available for purchase by a strategic business partner, leaving Carlsberg at best with the potential of a minority stake in the group.

Jens Peter Skaarup, Carlsberg's international spokesperson, told CEE-Foodindustry.com that the company was prepared for a gradual approach to expanding its operations within the country, and would persevere with its plans. “It doesn't surprise us that the privatizing of Habeco will take place step by step. Actually, that's what we expected.”

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