Stampa

HEINEKEN ITALIA/BIRRA MORETTI (Commitments compliance)


PRESS RELEASE



Heineken Italy, in order to comply with the commitments formally assumed during the investigation concluded on July 4th, 1996, signed a contract pertaining to the sale of a brewery whose production capacity is equal to about 5 per cent of the national market.

The Authority, to avoid likely anti-competitive effects, had authorized the acquisition by Heineken Italy of Birra Moretti, the Italian brewer, from Interbrew of Belgium, on condition that Heineken would sell one of its breweries to a competitor, either potential or effective.

The plant which was sold is located in San Giorgio di Nogaro in the Northern part of Italy and has a 700,000 hectoliters per year production capacity. Furthermore, the acquirer will obtain from Heineken also the Castello di Udine brand. Lastly, Heineken undertook to allow the acquirer to produce on its behalf, for a five-years start-up period, decreasing quantities of beer, in order to favor the market access of the new competitor.

The acquirer is Sitem, a construction company specializing in industrial plants, which recorded total sales of 11 billions lira in 1996. Sitem took part in building the brewery based in San Giorgio and employs skilled teams for the design and construction of small-sized breweries.

The acquisition will be financed from Sitem's internal funds, with the support of a banking pool.

On May 29th, 1997, the Authority approved the Heineken's sale proposal, since it complied with the commitments assumed previously.