Press Release
| November 6, 2008
Dewey & LeBoeuf Advises EFES Breweries on Heineken Joint Venture in Kazakhstan
(Dubai, London, November 6, 2008) - Dewey & LeBoeuf has advised Efes Breweries International NV (EBI) in a complex joint venture with Heineken International in Kazakhstan.
The deal involved the sale of Heineken's Kazakh subsidiary, Dinal LLP to EBI's Kazakh subsidiary, Efes Karaganda Brewery JSC (Efes Kazakhstan) in its entirety, and the acquisition by Heineken of a 28 percent interest in Efes Kazakhstan.
This Kazakh JV is part of a larger partnership relationship between EBI and Heineken in Kazakhstan, Serbia and Uzbekistan. Earlier this year, EBI and Heineken created a joint venture in Serbia in which Heineken holds a 72 percent interest and Efes holds a 28 percent interest, as well as a joint venture in Uzbekistan in which Efes holds a 60 percent interest and Heineken a 40 percent interest.
"This is a tremendously strong partnership amongst two of the world's leading brewers," said Federico Salinas, lead partner on the deal. "It is great for us to be able to assist EBI in its acquisition activities in the CIS. Dewey & LeBoeuf has a similar geographic footprint to EBI, so deals like this involving multijurisdictional advice in Europe and the CIS are deals in which we believe we can add significant value to our client's needs."
EBI, listed on the London Stock Exchange, operates in Russia, Kazakhstan, Moldova and Serbia, where the company has ten breweries with a total annual brewing capacity of 24.6 million hectolitres, as well as four malteries with 139,000 tons annual capacity.
EBI is a majority-owned subsidiary of Anadolu Efes Biracilik ve Malt Sanayii AS, the leading beverage company in Turkey. Anadolu Efes, together with its direct and indirect subsidiaries and affiliates, produces, markets and sells beer, malt, soft drinks and bottled water across Turkey, Southeast Europe, Russia, the CIS countries and the Middle East.
The Dewey & LeBoeuf multijurisdictional team was led by Dubai-based Capital Markets Partner Federico Salinas and Corporate Associate Usman Ahmad. Additional advice was provided by London-based M&A Associates Michael Chan and Audrey Abehsera from the firm's London office who provided English law advice and Klara Nurgaziyeva from the Almaty office who provided Kazakh law advice.
Heineken was represented by its in-house counsel.
This memorandum is intended only as a general discussion of these issues. It is not considered to be legal advice. We would be pleased to provide additional details or advice about specific situations. For additional information on this important topic, please feel free to call upon your Dewey & LeBoeuf relationship partner. No part of this publication may be reproduced, in whole or in part, in any form, without our prior written consent.
For further information on Dewey & LeBoeuf, please visit www.dl.com. +1 888 532 6383