Heineken bids for Brazilian brewer Grupo Petropolis: report
20 Feb 2012
Heineken N V, the world's third-largest brewer, has launched a bid for the Brazilian brewer Grupo Petropolis, Dutch financial daily Het Financieele Dagblad today reported, citing unnamed sources from a Brazilian weekend paper.
Founded in 1994 in the city of Petropolis, mountain region of Rio de Janeiro, Petrópolis Group, formerly known as Brewery Petrópolis, is currently one of the largest companies in Brazil.
It produces beers brands including Itaipava, Crystal, Lokal and Petra and energy drink TNT. Currently the group is present in 13 states and has 4 breweries and distribution centres.
In 2010, the company entered into a partnership with Weltenburguer, to access the German brewer's beer recipe created in 1050 in a monastery located on the banks of the river Danube, in Bavaria.
Petrópolis is the third largest brewer in Brazil with a 9.6-per cent market share, behind AmBev and Schincariol.
No financials have been released by the company in recent years, but several Brazilian media had earlier reported that the group had a turnover £2.3 billion in 2009.
Based in the Netherlands, Heineken's last acquisition was made in December 2011, when it acquired 918 pubs in the UK belonging to Galaxy Pub Estate from Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), for £412 million. (See: Heineken buys 918 UK pubs from RBS for $646 million)