New brooms
Quietly but steadily Heine-ken and UK drinks group Diageo have used their muscles to exert their control over Namibia Breweries. In April they bought an effective 28,98 percent of Namibia Breweries (NBL) from Belgian brewer Interbrew for EUR31 million. Interbrew had "inherited" the stake as part of the Beck’s deal but wanted to get rid of it as the investment did not fit its strategy. For Heineken and Diageo (which owns Guinness) the stake represented an ideal opportunity to gain a foothold in the neighbouring South African market which is controlled by SABMiller. The first significant sign of the new broom at work came in September when long-time Managing Director Bernd Masche was replaced by Marcus von Blottnitz. In 1976 he was promoted to General Manager. The contract expires in 2008..
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