Anheuser-Busch InBev has closed the pre-announced divestment of operations in Russia, although former beer marker leader Carlsberg has seen its departure take yet another turn.
Earlier this week, the Budweiser brand owner confirmed that its joint venture partner Anadolu Efes will buy its “non-controlling interest” in the AB InBev Efes unit. The latest development comes 20 months after the pair initially agreed AB InBev’s “de-recognition” of the business along with a US$1.1bn associated non-cash impairment charge.
The sale, which will not see any payment change hands, includes as a condition “the suspension of the licence for production and sale of Bud in Russia”.
The JV, which was formed in 2018, also covers Ukraine and included AB InBev’s purchase of a 24% holding in Turkey-based Anadolu Efes.
Carlsberg, meanwhile, is dealing with a further twist in Russia, having seen its planned offload derailed by the country’s authorities, who handed temporary management of its Baltika Breweries business to the Russian Federal Agency for State Property Management in July.
Despite terminating the licence agreement with Baltika for its international brands two months ago, reports this week claim the St Petersburg & Leningrad Region Arbitration Court has found in favour of the latter. The court “invalidated [Carlsberg’s] unilateral waivers of licences to produce and sell several brands of beer”, Interfax reported.
International brewing peer Heineken successfully handed its Russian operations over to domestic household products company Arnest Group in August for a token EUR1 payment.
