Heineken, the world's second-largest brewer, agreed on Monday to buy the loss-making Brazilian breweries of Japan's Kirin Holdings to boost its presence in the world's third-biggest beer market.

The Dutch brewer will become the number two brewer in Brazil, with a share of some 19%, behind clear market leader Anheuser-Busch InBev. Including debt, Heineken said it would pay 1.025 billion euros ($1.09 billion).

For Kirin it marks a departure from the Brazilian market, having paid some $3.9 billion in 2011 for 12 breweries, a business which has subsequently lost market share and seen raw materials costs rise due to a weak currency.

Kirin said that Brazil's economic risks and a stagnant and competitive beer and soft drink market meant there were "limitations" to making Brasil Kirin profitable. Kirin said the unit made an operating loss of 284 million reais in 2016.

Brazil's economy appears set to enter a third year of recession in 2017, but Heineken said that its beer market was attractive in the longer term, with a premium segment growing faster than the market as a whole.

The acquisition will increase Heineken's presence in the north and north-east of Brazil, allow it to boost sales of the premium lagers Heineken and Sol and yield cost savings.

It already has five breweries in Brazil from its 2010 acquisition of the beer business of Mexico's FEMSA.

"None of the normal ratios work because it's loss-making, but it's a very attractive price," said Trevor Stirling, beverage analyst at Bernstein Research.

Some analysts have also said the deal is important as it makes Heineken a stronger rival in a heartland of global beer leader AB InBev just as the latter has pushed into Heineken's markets elsewhere through its takeover of SABMiller.

The acquisition, dependent on approval by Brazil's antitrust agency, is expected to close in the first half of the year.

Separately, Kirin said it would take a 51% stake in a beer company in Myanmar. The company, Mandalay Brewery, will be 49% owned by Myanmar Economic Holdings. Kirin and Myanmar Economic Holdings already run already another beer joint venture, Myanmar Brewery.

Kirin also said it had ended capital alliance talks with Coca-Cola Group, though the two companies would continue to discuss a potential operational partnership.

本周一，全球第二大啤酒酿造商喜力公司（Heineken）宣布，同意收购日本麒麟控股（Kirin Holdings）旗下已经陷入亏损的几家巴西酿酒公司，以扩大喜力集团在全球第三大啤酒市场上的存在。

此次收购结束后，喜力将成为巴西市场上的第二大啤酒酿造商，其市场份额将达到19%左右，仅次于市场领跑者百威英博（Anheuser-Busch InBev）。喜力公司表示，包括债务在内，公司将合计支付10.25亿欧元（约10.9亿美元）用于此次收购。

此次交易也标志着麒麟控股将正式告别巴西市场。麒麟公司在2011年斥资39亿美元收购了12家酿酒厂，然而此后该公司在巴西市场上的份额显著下降。此外，由于汇率波动的原因，该公司的原材料成本也在一路上涨。

麒麟集团表示，由于巴西经济整体面临的风险，加之巴西的啤酒和软饮市场已经陷入增长停滞和高度竞争的局面，因此要使麒麟集团的巴西业务扭亏为盈，是存在一些“限制”的。光是2016年，麒麟的巴西分公司就亏损了2.84亿雷亚尔。

到2017年，巴西经济已经是连续第三年陷入衰退了。不过喜力集团表示，从长期看来，巴西的啤酒市场还是相当有吸引力的，而且高端市场的增幅还要快于整体市场。

此次收购将扩大喜力啤酒在巴西北部和东南部的存在，有助于扩大喜力啤酒和苏尔啤酒（Sol）的销量并节省成本。

自从2010年喜力收购墨西哥FEMSA公司的啤酒业务以来，喜力集团迄今在巴西已经拥有五家啤酒酿造厂。

伯恩斯坦研究公司（Bernstein Reasearch）的饮料业务分析师特雷弗·斯特林表示：“你不能拿正常比率来看，因为它正在亏损，但它的价格还是非常有吸引力的。”

一些分析师表示，这笔交易对于喜力集团来说非常重要，因为巴西也是其竞争对手百威英博的一个核心市场，此次收购有助于喜力更强有力地在巴西与后者展开竞争。近些年来，自从收购了SABMiller公司之后，百威英博也在同样不遗余力地进军喜力的核心市场。

此次收购能否顺利进行，还要等待巴西反垄断部门的审批，此次交易有望于今年上半年正式结束。

再来单独说一下麒麟控股的近况。麒麟控股表示，它将保留一家缅甸啤酒公司51%的股权。这家公司名叫曼德勒酿酒公司（Mandalay Brewery），它的另外49%的股权将由缅甸经济控股公司（Myanmar Economic Holdings）持有。麒麟集团和缅甸经济控股公司已经成立了另一家合资企业——缅甸酿酒公司（Myanmar Brewery）。

麒麟集团还表示，它已经终止了与可口可乐集团（Coca-Cola Group）就资本结盟问题进行的谈判，不过这两家公司将继续围绕可能的运营合作进行商谈。（财富中文网）

作者：Reuters

译者：朴成奎