Heineken buys Carlsberg brewery in ‘growing’ Vietnamese market

Heineken has agreed to buy a brewery in Vietnam from Carlsberg, ahead of projected growth in the Southeast Asian country’s beer market.

In a conference call to investors, Carlsberg CEO Cees ‘t Hart suggested that the sale of the brewery in the southern city of Vung Tau – 45 miles southeast of Ho Chi Minh City – would allow the Danish brewer to focus on its existing operations elsewhere in Vietnam.

The company is expected to benefit from the privatisation of the state-owned Hanoi Beer Alcohol Beverage Corporation (Habeco), potentially doubling its overall shareholding, and has seen a “very positive” initial response following the Vietnamese market launch of its Tuborg brand earlier in the year.

Beer consumption is expected to increase in Vietnam from a volume of almost 3.9 billion litres in 2015 to just over 4 billion litres this year – up 4.1% – according to research from Euromonitor International.

The deal was completed in July but has only come to light this month, and coincides with the half-year reports of both Carlsberg and Heineken, which recorded six-month revenues of €4.2 billion and €10 billion respectively.

Carlsberg CEO ‘t Hart summarised: “With regards to Vietnam, indeed, we focus on the territory where we are [in the north]. We have a footprint, which we would like to improve at the moment that the privatisation [of Habeco] is being implemented.

“We are very satisfied with the launch of Tuborg. That’s really a success. We are gaining share there. And we have high expectations for the second half of the year on Vietnam to prolong the success of Tuborg.

Heineken CEO and chairman Jean-François van Boxmeer added: “Our first half performance reflects a very good first quarter, also helped by softer comparatives, and a solid second quarter. Whilst Africa, Middle East & Eastern Europe continued to be challenging, performance was strong in some key developing markets such as Vietnam and Mexico.”