Heineken to control NBL and Distell Namibia

The Namibian Competition Commission (NaCC) has conditionally approved the acquisition of Namibia Breweries (NBL) Investment Holdings (Pty) Ltd and Distell Group Holdings Limited by Heineken International BV.

According to NaCC spokesperson Dina //Gowases in media statement, the transaction entails Heineken BV increasing its shareholding in NBL Investment Holdings (Pty) Ltd and thereby acquiring control over NBL Investment Holdings (Pty) Ltd, which is the holding company of Namibia Breweries Ltd (NBL). The transaction further entails Heineken BV through NBL acquiring Distell Namibia Ltd, a subsidiary of the Distell Group Holdings Ltd.

One of the conditions that the commission has imposed is that there shall be no retrenchments of employees below management level of the merged entity in Namibia as a result of the merger for a period of five years.

Secondly, the merged entity shall ensure that retailers shall be free to allocate up to 10% of refrigerators in each beverage cooler owned by NBL or Distell Namibia in any on and off-consumption uutlet in Namibia. This allocation right shall apply only to products manufactured or packaged in Namibia by Namibian-owned and Namibian-controlled companies.

Thirdly, the merged entity will license the rights to produce, market, distribute and sell Heineken's Strongbow brand in the territory, to a purchaser. The divestiture of the Strongbow brand will take the form of a perpetual, royalty-free license for the use of the Strongbow brand.

In addition, Distell products consumed in Namibia must be manufactured or at least be bottled in Namibia and in so doing create additional employment and contribute to further industrialization and economic growth.

Furthermore, merged entity in respect of input products sourced locally pre-merger and having regard to existing agreements shall continue sourcing the referenced input products locally.

Moreover, the merged entity shall not require customers in Namibia to purchase products within one product category on condition that they also purchase products within any other product categories supplied by the merged entity.

Lastly, the commission imposed a condition requiring the establishment of a micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) Development Fund. The Fund will be used to build the capacity of selected MSMEs and thereby make them [email protected]