FDBusiness.com

Heineken has acquired a majority stake in Biela Ecuador from a group of mainly local investors for an undisclosed sum. Over the past few years, Biela Ecuador has established its place in the Ecuadorian beer market by re-launching the Biela® brand.

The Beila brewery is located in Guayaquil, Ecuador’s largest city, and is fully operational using high-quality brewing and packaging equipment. In addition to Biela®, Heineken intends to market its portfolio of premium and international brands, led by Heineken®, in Ecuador in the future. The global drinks giant also plans to brew Heineken® beer locally in due course.

Marc Busain, President Americas at Heineken, says: “We are pleased to announce our investment in Ecuador. With its favourable demographics, flourishing tourism industry and GDP growth, it offers a lot of potential to grow our premium offering, led by the Heineken® brand. We are excited to grow our business in Ecuador in close collaboration with our new partners.”

Ecuador is a very attractive market, with GDP projected to grow at a 5.7% rate (CAGR) in the next 10 years and encouraging social-economic fundamentals. The Ecuadorian beer market presents a promising opportunity for Heineken, with a current size of 6 million hectolitres per year and a relatively low consumption per capita of 39 litres when compared to other South American countries. In addition, the Ecuadorian government is supportive of foreign investment and of introducing competition in the beer market.