Less than two months after sitting at the negotiation table, Heineken have signed an agreement to take over Bere Mures, with an acquisition that will bring another two businesses (a hotel and a water bottling one), which Heineken shareholders will not keep.
"There is the option that the one of the six shareholders of Bere Mures buy back the hotel (Germisara), but we don't know what will happen with the water bottling firm or how quickly it will be sold," says Mihai Radulescu, a partner with Schoenherr law firm, which represented Heineken in the deal with Bere Mures.
For Heineken, the assets Bere Mures shareholders held beside the beer business did not matter at the moment of the deal, especially as its main rival, SABMiller, was knocking hard on the Mures producer's door. At that time, the gap between the two brewers, in terms of market share, stood below 1%.
Therefore, the stake related to the acquisition of Bere Mures, which held around 6% of the market, was an extremely high one for beer multinationals.
Bere Mures shareholders announced their intention to sell the company as early as last December, with Virgil Mailat telling ZF at that time the company was in talks with SABMiller and an investment fund whose identity was not revealed. According to Mailat, the value of the company was set at a minimum 150m euros; a sum the same shareholder says he received after the contract with Heineken was signed. On the other hand, Heineken representatives have not disclosed any prices so far, while Radulescu says the price of the deal has still to be established.
The lawyer recounts that he first heard of Heineken's interest and became involved in talks in January, a moment when both SABMiller and an investment fund were running in the race for Bere Mures, according to Virgil Mailat, the one who will collect around 35m euros for a 25% stake in Bere Mures. The other euro millionaires in the wake of the deal are Gheorghe Grec and Emil Morariu (with 35m euros each) and Rus Alexandru, Bacila Nicolae and Rujiu Rus Alexandru, who will receive around 12.5m euros each.
"When I realised there are 6 co-owners to hold negotiations with, I thought we'd come to a conclusion in August, but even without the involvement of an investment bank these people, who aren't related, knew very well what they wanted and acted in unison. I've never seen 6 different owners of a business at such a level work together and complement each other so well," Radulescu comments.
"Heineken signed the contract with Bere Mures in late February, (...), but it will take another several months until the deal is completed," added Radulescu.
In fact, Bere Mures takeover is the most important deal on the beer market since 2000, and also the first time a top three player has outdistanced its other 2 rivals.
The deal
Bere Mures shareholders announced their intention to sell the company as early as last December; at that time the company was in talks with SABMiller and an investment fund whose identity was not revealed
Less than 2 months after sitting at the negotiation table, Heineken beer producer signed an agreement to take over Bere Mures
Bere Mures takeover is the most important deal on the beer market since 2000, and also the first time a top 3 player has outdistanced its other 2 rivals.
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