India: InBev negotiates equal joint venture in India

InBev is in talks to establish an equal joint venture with one of India's largest soft drink bottlers, Ravi Jaipuria.

The combine will look at a host of brewery acquisitions and greenfield projects on its way to the market. The latter seems to have emerged as the front-runner for joining hands with the brewing giant, even as a few other local groups with plans to foray into the beer market have had exploratory talks with the makers of bitters like Becks, Stella Artois and Brahma, according to Economic Times.

“We are looking at a 50:50 joint venture with InBev,” Ravi Jaipuria told the Economic Times on along with Heineken, are the two global beer companies waiting to enter the country, which is dominated by United Breweries (UB) and SABMiller currently.

Jaipuria, the youngest of three brothers of the Jaipuria family, holds brewing interests in Mauritius. He holds 26% stake in a Ramesh Vangal-promoted start-up liquor company Mason & Summers, which marked his foray into the alcobev sector in India. InBev had earlier planned to enter the country through its Russian partner Khemkas of the Sun Group. Depending on the success of the negotiations, the JV between InBev and Jaipuria may be in place by December this year.

“What we are discussing is a manufacturing, distribution and marketing joint venture,” Jaipuria explained while adding that acquiring surviving independent brewers was a possibility along with setting up new breweries.

India's economic growth and the buoyancy in consumption makes it one of the last potentially huge markets, which, unlike China, is still underrepresented by the big global brewers.

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