Japanese brewer Kirin Holdings is planning to buy Mandalay Beer for an estimated several hundred million yen in its latest effort to boost its presence in the Asia-Oceania region and as a part of enhancing their market position in Myanmar.
The ‘Mandalay Beer’ brand is the oldest brand in Myanmar and most iconic in this market. Myanmar Economic Holdings Limited (MEHL), military backed business, owned this trade mark and under 10 per cent of shares. Kirin will create a local subsidiary to take over the from Myanmar Economic Holdings. The Myanmar Investment Commission is expected to approve the deal soon. Myanmar’s beer consumption in 2014 reached 210,000 kiloliters. Per-capita volume was just a tenth or so of that of its Southeast Asian neighbors, Thailand and Vietnam. But with its economy growing rapidly, beer drinking is on the rise, mainly in cities. The market is expected to more than double from 2013 levels by 2018.
In 2015, Kirin has bought Myanmar Brewery Limited (MBL) with $560 million from F&N. Kirin bought 55 percent of Myanmar brewery in 2015, and the later owned up to 80 per cent of the shares of Myanmar Beer. If Kirin can buy Mandalay beer, it will own 90 per cent of the Myanmar market. Myanmar Economic Holdings Limited (MEHL) owned 45 percent of the business.
Source: Eleven Myanmar
