BRAZIL: AmBev acquires Peruvian assets

AmBev, the world's fifth largest brewer and Brazil's leading beverage company, announced today that it reached an agreement for the acquisition of some of Embotelladora Rivera's assets in Peru.

Through this transaction, which will grant AmBev PepsiCo's franchise agreement for Northern Peru and Lima, the company will purchase from Embotelladora Rivera two plants in Peru, which combined have an estimated production capacity of 6.3m hectoliters per year and sales and distribution assets in Lima.

"This transaction was designed to maximize production, logistics and general & administrative synergies between the beer and the carbonated soft drinks (CSD) businesses. By acquiring Embotelladora Rivera's production assets, AmBev will be able to reap the benefits of scale," the company said.

The acquisition of Embotelladora Rivera's sales and distribution assets in Lima is in line with AmBev's strategy to pursue direct distribution in key regions.

The company said that in Northern Peru, sales and distribution of beer and CSD will be carried out by Embotelladora Rivera and, given the company's extensive distribution network covering over 140,000 points-of-sale, AmBev will be able to significantly reduce its time-to-market in the beer business.

AmBev said it believes that this structure should allow the company to fully exploit Rivera's distribution expertise in the Peruvian market, yielding very favorable and rapid results in the launch of its beer operations.

The acquisition of these assets is also expected to translate into future synergies in the development of AmBev's original beer business plan for the Peruvian market.

The company said it will provide additional information, including the purchase price of these assets, once the transaction is fully concluded.