Efes, Heineken plans to buy Uzbek brewers

UzDaily.com earlier reported that, EBI and Heineken established a joint venture in order to invest in the Uzbek beer market through the acquisition of breweries.

Under the terms of the agreement, Heineken and EBI will hold 40% and 60% of the shares in the joint venture, respectively, with EBI responsible for operational management.

Uzbekistan has an estimated population of 27 million, a beer market showing double-digit growth and current estimated per capita beer consumption of 11 litres.

The report of Russian agency said the venture wants to buy Pulsar (Samarkand city) and Inter-Rohat (Tashkent), which are among top 3 brewers in Uzbekistan. The company can invest about US$60-80 million.