GUANGDONG
BREWERY
O N
HEINEKEN IN CHINA
JUNE 2004
Heineken has reached an agreement to acquire a stake in
Guangdong Brewery. With a population of 85 million people,
Guangdong is one of the largest and wealthiest provincial beer
markets in China with an estimated volume of 18 million
hectolitres per year. This acquisition will strengthen the position
of Heineken in China considerably.
China is the largest beer market in the world with an estimated sales
volume of 250 million hectolitres of beer in 2003. The acquisition
happened through Heinekens associated company Heineken Asia
Pacific Breweries China (Heineken APB). Heineken APB has entered
into an agreement to acquire a minority stake in Guangdong.
Heineken APB is part of the 50-50 joint venture between Heineken
and Fraser Neave in the Asia-Pacific region. Thony Ruys, Chairman
of the Heineken Executive Board, is enthusiastic: "The Guangdong
province is one of the most important beer markets in China.
The strong position of Guangdong Breweries in this region offers
an excellent platform for further growth of the Heineken brand."
Guangdong Brewery is an investment holding company whose
subsidiaries produce, distribute and market Kingway beer. It is a
leading regional brewer in the Guangdong Province and its major
markets include Shenzhen, Dongguan, Pearl River Delta and Eastern
Guangdong. Kingway beer is also available in Hong Kong, Macau
and Taiwan. There are more than thirty beer variants under the
Kingway label of which the three main ones are Kingway classic,
Kingway draft and Kingway 2008. In Guangdong, Guangdong
Brewery is the third largest brewery in terms of sales volume with
a dominant position in Shenzhen. It is also one of the most
profitable listed breweries with operations in China.
Guangdong Brewery owns two plants in Shenzhen. In July 2003,
Guangdong Brewery announced that it had plans to set up a third
plant with an expected capacity of 2 million hectolitres in
Shantou, Guangdong Province. They expect operations to
commence in 2005.
