Colombia: Heineken NV is looking at Colombia's biggest brewer Bavaria

Dutch brewer Heineken NV is looking at Colombia's biggest brewer Bavaria as part of plans to expand in Latin America, Heineken’s chief executive said on April 25. Asked in an interview with Reuters in Paris about speculation over a pending takeover by Heineken of Bavaria, outgoing chief executive Anthony Ruys said: "Yes, but we are looking at any brewer that is for sale…. Even though it's a big project, it doesn't necessarily mean it's impossible by definition."

Ruys said Heineken was in the process of gathering information about the brewer and he did not rule out that a type of partnership, along the lines of one that the firm has with Fraser & Neave, might be possible with Bavaria.

"If you see this kind of opportunity, then you would like to deepen your knowledge about it," he said. Asked if Heineken would consider buying Brazilian brewer Cervejarias Kaiser, he said: "It is a possibility."

Heineken last year took a 190 million euro ($248.3 million) charge on its small stake in Kaiser, reducing the value to zero, but said the write-down was unrelated to any decision about its future.

Kaiser's majority shareholder is Canada's Molson which merged in February with Adolph Coors to create Molson Coors Brewing Co.. Some analysts expect Molson to sell Kaiser and have tipped Heineken as a possible buyer.

"We're going to look at how things are going. We are going to look at what Molson and Coors want to do with it as well as what other options are open for Brazil and South America," Ruys said. He also said Heineken was still interested in raising its stake in China's Kingway Brewery Holdings but nothing was imminent.

Heineken, the world's fourth biggest brewer, said earlier this month Ruys will step down earlier than expected on Oct. 1 and be succeeded by Belgian Jean-Francois van Boxmeer.

Ruys declined to comment on current market conditions. Asked about analyst expectations that Heineken might close breweries in Europe in the next few years, he said the firm wanted to use capacity in a different way, rather than closing breweries outright.

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