Carlsberg and Vietnamese Brewer Habeco Sign Agreement to Increase Partnership

The increased partnership will provide opportunities for both Habeco and Carlsberg to further jointly strengthen their market positions in northern Vietnam but also in central Vietnam where Carlsberg is market leader through its brewery joint venture in Hué.

18 Sep 2009 --- Carlsberg and Vietnamese brewery Habeco plan to increase their successful partnership in the fast growing and prosperous Vietnamese beer market. In the presence of the Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung Carlsberg and Habeco signed a so called Memorandum of Understanding which is planned to increase Carlsberg’s ownership in Habeco from 16.07% up to 30%.

Habeco and Carlsberg also agreed on accelerating the strategic cooperation plan on key business areas.

The agreement was signed by General Director Nguyen Van Viet, Habeco, and President & CEO Jørgen Buhl Rasmussen, Carlsberg.

The signing ceremony took place at Carlsberg’s Headquarters in Copenhagen.

Habeco is market leader in the northern Vietnam where Carlsberg is present through its brewery joint ventures in Hanoi and Halong. The increased partnership will provide opportunities for both Habeco and Carlsberg to further jointly strengthen their market positions in northern Vietnam but also in central Vietnam where Carlsberg is market leader through its brewery joint venture in Hué. Carlsberg and Habeco are already partners in southern Vietnam where a new brewery is being constructed.

"Habeco’s choice of Carlsberg as strategic partner and the plan to increase the partnership is a major step forward for our businesses in Vietnam, and it creates a solid foundation for a continuation of the positive cooperation between Habeco and Carlsberg," says President & CEO Jørgen Buhl Rasmussen, Carlsberg.

Carlsberg entered Vietnam in 1993 through the formation of at joint venture with Viet Ha Brewery owned by the Hanoi Peoples Committee. Carlsberg owns 60% of South East Asia Brewery, which is the name of the operation. In 1995 the second Carlsberg joint venture was founded through cooperation with the Hue Peoples Committee in Hué Brewery, of which Carlsberg owns 50%. In 2007 Carlsberg acquired a 30% shareholding in Halong Brewery and later in 2007 Habeco and Carlsberg jointly established a new joint venture in Vung Tau province outside of Ho Chi Minh City in southern Vietnam. In 2008, Carlsberg was appointed strategic partner of Habeco and acquired a 16.07% shareholding in the IPO of Habeco.

In June this year Carlsberg and Habeco started construction of the greenfield brewery Hanoi-Vung Tau Brewery with a yearly capacity of 500.000 hl – a step in the two partner’s plan to expand southwards.