Heineken to expand its market in Latin America

It is reported that Heineken NV will buy the beer business of Mexico's Fomento Economico Mexicano SA (FEMSA) in a US$7.9 billion deal. FEMSA is Latin America’s biggest drinks firm, being the second biggest Coca-Cola bottler and selling the drink in nine Latin American countries. The firm is the number one brewery in Latin America and its portfolio owns and/or markets 35 beers marks. It operates in nine countries in Latin America.

FEMSA also operates OXXO, which is a convenience store chain in the region. It has recently expanded into Colombia. It makes Dos Equis, Tecate and Sol beers and sells Kaiser, Bavaria Clasica and Xingu in Brazil and in Mexico it also sells Carta Blanca and Indio.

This move certainly boosts the Dutch brewer's presence in the Latin American market and will strengthen its position in the US imported market. Heineken was the best-selling imported beer in the US for years before being surpassed by Corona Extra in the late 1990s.

Heineken Chief Executive Officer, Jean-Francois van Boxmeer, said: “Through this deal we become a much stronger, more competitive player in Latin America, one of the world's most profitable and fastest growing beer markets.”