Русский
Decision is almost certainly due to Euroclear diverting profits from frozen Russian capital to Ukraine
Belgian brewer Anheuser-Busch InBev and Turkey’s Anadolu Efes have lost, in the case of the latter, perhaps temporarily, in their attempts to strike a deal for the assets of Russian joint venture Anheuser-Busch Inbev Efes. On Monday, January 1, Russian President Vladimir Putin issued a decree placing Russia’s AB InBev Efes under the temporary management of JSC Vmeste group of companies. Anadolu Efes had hoped to acquire all of AB Ibev’s equity in the JV, allowing the Belgian company to exit the Russian market.
AB InBev Efes, the Russian JV, was formed in 2018 through a merger of the assets of Belgium-based AB InBev and Anadolu Efes of Türkiye. The JV runs 11 breweries across Russia and includes brands as Bud, Hoegaarden, Stella Artois, Lowenbrau, Klinskoe, and Sibirskaya Korona. The JV is Russia’s beer market leader, achieving sales of 22.3 million hl of beer in 2023.
According to 2024 data by Kirin Beer, Russia is the world’s fifth largest beer market after China, the United States, Brazil and Mexico.
According to the Presidential decree, all of the shares of AB InBev Efes Russia are now under the temporary control of the Vmeste group of companies. Putting the joint venture under control of Vmeste sent shares in Anadolu Efes plummeting by 10% on Borsa Istanbul, while AB InBev shares dropped 1.5%.
Earlier this year, Anadolu Efes and AB InBev, the world’s number one beer producer by output, agreed to swap stakes in their businesses in Russia and Ukraine. If approved by the Russian authorities, the deal would have made the Turkish brewer the sole owner of the Russian business, while AB InBev would acquire the Ukrainian unit. The Belgium-based corporation had previously intended to dispose of both units through a sale to Anadolu Efes, but Moscow opposed the plan.
In April 2023, President Putin signed a decree introducing temporary asset management of persons from unfriendly countries in response to the seizure or restriction of rights to Russian property abroad. In addition, in October 2024, Russian authorities made it more difficult for foreign businesses to leave Russia by changing the size of the mandatory discount to the market value of the asset when foreigners sell Russian businesses. Previously they had to be sold for 50% of their real price, now the discount must be at least 60% (the asset itself can thus be sold for only 40% of the valuation). At the same time, if the value of transactions is more than 50 billion rubles, they must be made only with the consent of President Vladimir Putin
It is unclear what prompted the decision to award Vmeste the initial control of the AB InBev Efes Joint Venture. It could be that the financial structuring of the proposed takeover by Anadolu Efes was thought to undervalue the JV, or it could be politically related with Moscow potentially unhappy with Turkish involvement in Syria, a reaction to Belgium’s Euroclear sending Russian frozen funds to Ukraine, or a combination of all these factors.
What does appear clear is that Vmeste are now in control of the JV assets and can retain the operating capital in Russia. Their options are now to manage the breweries themselves, sell the business to Russian management, sell equity at a higher price than may have been tabled by Anadolu Efes, or structure a deal involving all three.
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