E-Malt.com News article: 732

Analysts are predicting that once the current acrimony at Chilean brewer, CCU, settles, Heineken and the Chilean holding company, Quinenco, will buy out Anheuser-Busch which holds a 20% stake in the brewer, according to Just-drinks.

Anheuser-Busch has voiced its opposition to a planned CLP169m dividend payment by CCU which was proposed on January 14, the same day that Heineken announced it was to buy a participation in CCU owned by the German group, Schoerghuber Stiftung & Co.. The US brewer has asked the Chilean markets regulator to review the Schoerghuber Stiftung/Heineken deal.

Although A-B has not said it is looking to sell its stake in CCU, which controls around 90% of the Chilean beer market, analysts believe that the US brewer voicing its opposition so strongly is a strong indication that it would welcome an offer to be bought out.

As Quinenco is unlikely to want to cede control to Heineken and Heineken will not want another external shareholder to come aboard, analysts believe the most likely scenario will be that Heineken and Quinenco will split the A-B share down the middle, acquiring 10% each. At the current share price, the 20% stake is valued at US$212.34m.


07 March, 2003