The new owner of Heineken factories in Russia assessed the costs of acquiring assets

The purchase of the Russian business of the Dutch brewing company Heineken, taking into account all loans, will cost the Arnest group 11.5–12 billion rubles. About this in an interview RBC said the president and beneficiary of Arnest, Alexey Sagal.

Heineken announced it will cease investments and exports to Russia in March 2022. At the end of August 2023, the company reported, which sold its Russian business, including all seven breweries, to the Arnest group for a symbolic €1. At the same time, Arnest took upon itself the obligation to repay the debt of the Russian division of Heineken to the parent structure in the amount of €100 million.

“Our payment obligations will actually amount to 11.5–12 billion rubles. We took out loans for this amount. OPH (“United Breweries – Holding” is the name under which the former Russian division of Heineken now operates.— “Ъ”), when he bought Russian breweries, he invested in them borrowed funds from the parent company. They serviced these loans, but were never able to pay them off in full. It is the obligation to repay this loan that is the key element of the deal, and not €1,” said Alexey Sagal.

Mr. Sagal noted that the proposal to purchase Heineken’s Russian business came from Arnest, but the terms of the transaction were proposed by the Dutch company. “We didn’t have any bargaining, we accepted their terms and took a certain risk, since the deal took place under time pressure,” he clarified.

The head of Arnest pointed out that the main plants of the United Breweries were built decades ago, and the wear and tear of the equipment is more than 60%. According to him, for the nine months of 2023, the loss of the industrial enterprise amounted to 123.7 million rubles. “OPH, as we bought it, represents a huge challenge for both me and management,” he added.

Read more about the Arnest Group’s plans for business development in interview Alexey Sagal “Kommersant”.