Amicable divorce
On 1 March 2003 Heineken Italia and Interbrew are to go their separate ways. After eight years, Heineken has agreed to relinquish the rights to brew and market all Interbrew and Labatt brands in Italy for the sum of EUR 19.5 million.
Since 1995 Heineken has held the rights to Interbrew’s brand Stella Artois in Italy as Interbrew in those days did not want to get involved in the Italian market. But since then imported beers have become the most buoyant segment in the Italian beer market (total beer consumption: 16.7 m hl in 2001) with a share of 26 percent. Stella Artois alone sold 170,000 hl in Italy in 2001, claims Interbrew.
While Interbrew and Hein-eken have gone for a friendly divorce, Germany’s Warsteiner and the Netherland’s Grolsch decided to tie the knot..
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