Whose round is it?
Russian analysts seem convinced that the multinationals’ interest in snapping up Russian breweries is not going to wane although the country’s beer boom is set to fizzle. Heineken said that the market will grow by 5 percent this year – a small cry from the 12 percent surge in 2004 – but even that figure is regarded as way too optimistic by some local analysts. Yet, there is no denying that all major players apart from market leader Baltika suffer from capacity constraints. One way out would be to buy up the few remaining independent breweries. However, these breweries will demand handsome premiums, following the examples set by Stepan Razin, Tinkoff or ITB this year. Independent Krasny Vostok in Kazan could cost up to USD 1 billion. ....
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