Heineken has said it is entering the next phase of its plan to hand a 20% stake in its business to Fomento Económico Mexicano (FEMSA) in return for buying the FEMSA Cerveza beer division.
Heineken said today (17 November) that it will buy up to EUR150m-worth (US$202.6m) of its own shares, in the latest phase of its plan to cede a 20% to FEMSA. The Netherlands-based brewer has mandated a bank to purchase shares on the open market from tomorrow until 16 June next year.
Mexico-based FEMSA is set to receive 29m Heineken in shares in total as a result of disposing of its FEMSA Cerveza arm. By the end of 2010, Heineken said it plans to have handed FEMSA 9.1m shares that were repurchased up to 12 November.
Back in August, Heineken said that FEMSA Cerveza, the second biggest brewer in Mexico behind Grupo Modelo, would add to the global brewer’s profits within two years. Its ownership of FEMSA Cerveza got off to a shaky start in the third quarter of 2010 due to sluggish consumer demand in Mexico.