FROM LEFT TO RIGHT: GUUS LUBSEN, JEAN FRANQOIS VAN BOXMEER, THONV RUYS, RENÉ HOOFT GRAAFLAND, MARC BOLLAND Both businesses are performing well on their home mar kets and will provide valuable support for our Middle East expansion. In Germany, we reached agreement, via our joint venture BrauHolding International, on the purchase of 45% of the shares in Karlsberg International Brand, which has a strong position in the Saarland and Rheinland-Pfalz regions. The large German beer market, though still fragmented, offers good potential for growing our market share and reducing costs. In Costa Rica, we acquired a 25% stake in Florida Bebidas, the country's only brewery, which also owns a modern fruit drinks plant and has interests in bottled water. Eleineken also acquired an 8% interest in COCECA, the only brewery in Nicaragua, and in Panama we pur chased a 74-5% stake in Cervecerias Barü-Panama, the country's second largest brewery. The Central American countries have good long-term economic growth prospects, their populations include a high proportion of young people and their beer markets are growing. In Brazil, we converted our 14% interest in the Kaiser breweries into a 20% interest in Cervejarias Kaiser Brasil, a company created by the Canadian brewer Molson Inc., which purchased Kaiser and combined it with the pre viously acquired Bavaria brewing group. In Kazakhstan, we increased our interest in the Dinal brewery, which has an 8% share of this rapidly growing beer market, to 51%. In early 2003 we acquired Schörghuber Corporate Group's 50% interest in IRSA, which has a 62% interest 9

Jaarverslagen en Personeelsbladen Heineken

Jaarverslagen | 2002 | | pagina 12