Heineken eyes Indian growth potential as it snaps up United Breweries

30 Jul 2021 --- Heineken has obtained control of UBL in India, following United Breweries Limited’s (UBL) annual general meeting yesterday.

This comes at the heels of Heineken’s recent acquisition of additional ordinary shares in UBL on June 23, taking its shareholding in UBL from 46.5 percent to 61.5 percent.

Influential shaper of the Indian beer industry 
UBL has a history dating back more than a century as an influential shaper of the beer industry in India, according to Dolf van den Brink, chairman of the executive board and CEO of Heineken. 

“UBL built its position as a market leader in India with a strong network of breweries across the country and a portfolio led by its Kingfisher brand family, complemented more recently by a strong Heineken international brand portfolio,” he explains.

India offers long-term growth opportunity as per capita beer consumption is low at 2 liters per annum.

Its growing population of nearly 1.4 billion people includes a strong emerging middle class, enabling further premiumization. UBL will be a top Heineken operating company and Kingfisher a top-five global brand.

Heineken expects the consolidation will have a small accretive effect on earning per share (EPS) and a dilutive effect on operating profit margin.Heineken obtained controlling interest following UBL’s annual general meeting.

Strides in the alcohol arena
Heineken’s alcohol and low-alcohol space has been heating up in the last few months. 

In April, Amstel ULTRA, a low-carb, low-calorie light beer, recruited tennis star Rafael Nadal as a global ambassador for its growing lifestyle product offerings, including Amstel ULTRA and Amstel 0.0.  

The three-year deal will see Amstel ULTRA and Amstel 0.0 feature Rafael Nadal in a variety of global marketing activities to launch in the coming months. Nadal will also be an ambassador for Amstel 0.0, helping highlight the importance of moderation and responsible consumption as part of Heineken’s wider Brewing a Better World ambition to create more choice for consumers within the zero alcohol category.

In March, Pure Piraña, Heineken’s global hard seltzer brand, expanded into Europe. Following the launch in Mexico and New Zealand last year, Pure Piraña is poised to dive into the European summer to meet consumer demand across the region, says the company. 

The hard seltzer will be available in Austria, Ireland, the Netherlands, Portugal and Spain. Other markets such as the UK join the hard seltzer trend throughout the year and into 2022.

Meanwhile, last year, Heineken Netherlands revealed it is ramping up its sustainability efforts to become fully circular by 2030 with a move that’s seen all Heineken beer for the Dutch market being brewed using 100 percent green energy since July 2020. 

Edited by Elizabeth Green