The Dutch brewer Heineken N.V. revealed on April 29 that it has signed agreements for the sale of its minority participations in NOCAL and EKA in Angola and of its subsidiary, Brasseries du Logone, in Chad, to Brasseries Internationale Holding Ltd. The activities of the three companies will remain unchanged as a result of these transactions, which will be effective as of 3 May 2004. These transactions will have no material effect on the results of Heineken N.V. for 2004, the company said.

“The decision to divest is based on the lack of a future perspective in both markets and is consistent with Heineken’s strategy to strive for the highest quality of earnings amongst international brewers,” the company said. “Heineken has owned breweries and enjoyed substantial market shares in several African countries for over 50 years. In 2003, Heineken decided to focus in Africa primarily to a number of countries with attractive beer markets. In Nigeria, the second largest beer market in Africa, Nigerian Breweries' state-of-the-art brewery in Enugu, with a capacity of 3.4m hl, was opened and, in the largest beer market, South Africa, an agreement was signed with Diageo and Namibian Breweries for joint marketing, sales and distribution.”

Heineken held a minority participation in Nova Empresa de Cervejas de Angola S.A.R.L. (NOCAL) of 27% and in Empresa Angolana de Cervejas of 46%, according to Just-drinks. The remaining part in both companies is held by the Angolese Government. NOCAL’s and EKA’s production capacities amount to approximately 100,000 and 150,000 hectolitres respectively, which represents a combined market share of approximately 10%.

Heineken was present in Chad through a 100%-owned subsidiary, Brasseries du Logone, which has production facilities in Moundou, that amount to approximately 100,000 hectolitres and represents a market share of 50%.

E-malt.com, the global information source for the brewing and malting industry professionals. The bi-weekly E-malt.com Newsletters feature latest industry news, statistics in graphs and tables, world barley and malt prices, and other relevant information. Click here to get full access to E-malt.com. If you are a Castle Malting client, you can get free access to E-malt.com website and publications. Contact us for more information at marketing@castlemalting.com .