Royal Unibrew acquires Vrumona from Heineken

At completion, Danish brewer Royal Unibrew will acquire 100% of Vrumona from Heineken for €300mln.

Vrumona is the second largest producer in the Dutch soft drink market and a leader in healthy soft drinks, with well-known brands such as Royal Club, Sisi, Sourcy and Vitamin Water, as well as licensed brands such as 7Up, Pepsi and Rivella. The company and production site are located near Utrecht and employ more than 300 people. The company currently produces about 3.1 million hectolitres per year across seven production lines. To expand the current business and support Royal Unibrew's global production base, Vrumona intends to invest in additional production capacity. The soft drink producer has been owned by Heineken since 1968.

A few years ago, Heineken already considered selling Vrumona. As a soft drink maker, Vrumona has been a special part of the Heineken beer empire. Heineken is nowadays mostly focussing on premium beers, which are growing faster than lager beer and have higher margins. In addition, their focus is on low-alcohol and non-alcoholic beers. To grow in this area, Heineken has acquired Dutch breweries Oedipus and Texels in recent years. With these beer brands and corresponding beer categories, Heineken will further anchor and develop itself in the Dutch market.

Hans Böhm, managing director Heineken Netherlands: "The sale of our soft drinks group in the Netherlands enables us to focus even more firmly on innovation and growth in the beer market that is so familiar to us. At the same time, with the new owner Royal Unibrew, a strong player in the soft drinks industry, Vrumona can realise its growth ambitions even better. This company already has a long-term partnership with PepsiCo in Europe with the exception of the Netherlands; because in our country, Vrumona is the PepsiCo bottler."

In 2013, Heineken also sold their Finnish beverage company Hartwall to Unibrew for €470m. Royal Unibrew is a leading regional multi-beverage company with a strong portfolio of local brands in key markets in the Nordic region, the Baltic States, Italy, France and Canada. In addition, the products are sold in more than 70 countries around the world. Thanks to the acquisition of Vrumona, Royal Unibrew now has a new market platform in The Netherlands.

Lars Jensen, CEO of Royal Unibrew, states: "We are happy to have signed an agreement with Heineken to acquire Vrumona. Vrumona is a leading soft drinks manufacturer, and it comes with a strong local organization, which makes it a strategic very strong fit for Royal Unibrew. Vrumona will become a new growth platform for Royal Unibrew in continental Europe and is expected to drive organic earnings growth in the coming years."

The deal is still subject to regulatory approval from the small Royal Unibrew export market and the customary works council process for the seller of the deal. The deal is expected to close in September or October 2023 and will be financed by committed expanded funding facilities from existing banks.

Source: Heineken
Source: Royal Unibrew
Source: CMS Law
Source: MenA
Source: fd.
Source: MergerLinks