APB enters Indonesia and New Caledonia

SINGAPORE-based Asia Pacific Breweries Limited (APB) said it has assumed leading positions in the beer markets of Indonesia and New Caledonia with the following transactions: The acquisition of Heineken International B.V.'s 65.1% interest in PT Multi Bintang Indonesia, Tbk (MBI) and 723,120 depository receipts of MBI shares (representing approximately 3.4% interest in MBI); The acquisition of the Bintang brand, including Bintang trademarks; and The acquisition of Heineken's 87.3% interest in Grande Brasserie de Nouvelle Caledonie S.A. (GBNC). "This milestone marks a significant boost to our position as a leading brewery Group in the Asia Pacific, our bottom line and growth prospects. Not only have we expanded our regional footprint to Indonesia and New Caledonia, we are now able to participate in the two profitable beer markets via market leaders, MBI and GBNC. More importantly, both MBI and GBNC have good track records of profitable growth which will be immediately accretive to APB's earnings," said APB chief executive Roland Pirmez.(the end)Off White X Max 98