Heineken to sell Hartwall

That's it. Heineken hopes to exit Finland. According to media reports on 11 April 2013, Heineken has initiated sales procedures for its Finnish beer and beverage business Hartwall.

According to anonymous sources, Heineken has sent preliminary information on Hartwall to potential buyers and requested indicative bids by the end of April.

Hartwall is believed to fetch about EUR 500 million, with interest most likely to come from equity investors, the sources said.

Heineken acquired Hartwall in 2008 as part of its joint purchase of Scottish & Newcastle with Carlsberg.

In February 2013, British media had revealed that Heineken may look to offload the Finnish unit. At the time, Heineken only admitted that it had started a review of its Finnish operations with a decision to be taken in the course of this year.