Heineken has acquired Russian brewer Ivan Taranov Breweries in a deal worth $560 million, expanding its presence in the rapidly growing Russian beer market. The agreement marks Heineken’s fifth purchase of a brewery in Russia in the last year.
Cyprus-based Ivan Taranov is Russia’s seventh-largest brewer with 3.4% market share. The company owns three breweries in Kaliningrad, Novotroitsk and Khabarovsk. The deal is expected to increase Heineken’s share in Russia to 14%, Heineken said.
Once the deal takes effect, Heineken will hold a portfolio of 34 brands including, Heineken, Buckler, Gosser and Lowenbrau.
The deal includes the option to purchase Ivan Taranov’s distribution business, which includes 23 companies throughout Russia. This year, the Russian beer market is expected to grow more than 5%, Heineken said.
In a separate development, Heineken, earlier this month, named Ken Kunze VP-marketing. He had been the company’s general manager for the Western Region.
Kunze replaces Stephen H. Davis, who left the company last month. Davis, 52, had been the CMO for close to 10 years. He handed in his resignation in May as the company was undergoing comprehensive management changes in terms of structure and people across the globe. A new U.S. president, Andrew J. Thomas, begins this fall as does a new chairman of the board, Jean Francois van Boxmeer, in Amsterdam. (PROMO Xtra, May 17)
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