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Mysore Breweries in talks with Heineken, Carlsberg

K Giriprakash

Two of the world's leading brewery groups, Heineken and Carlsberg have expressed their interest in setting up a joint venture with Bangalore-based Mysore Breweries Ltd (MBL).

Sources in MBL said that representatives of both the companies had met the top management sometime ago. Sources said representatives from the Singapore-based subsidiary of Heineken NV, Asia-Pacific Breweries which manufactures the popular Tiger brand, met their officials to discuss the possibility of setting up of a joint venture in India.

Sources also said Carlsberg was keen to set up a joint venture with MBL. Carlsberg and the UB Group's proposed joint venture is in the cans for sometime now. Sources said the representatives of Carlsberg had been informed that talks between the two can be held only if Carlsberg decides to wind up its plans with the UB Group.

Sources said both the beer majors wanted a majority stake in the joint venture though MBL was yet to take a decision on this issue.

Mysore Breweries Ltd had earlier disclosed that it was in talks with a few beer majors for setting up a joint venture. The stand-alone beer manufacturer had said that the joint venture partner would be offered a stake in MBL's proposed brewery in Andhra Pradesh. MBL plans to launch a series of brands during the next few years.

MBL is keen to launch a premium beer through its joint venture. The official said the multinationals were keen to use the large network of outlets available with MBL. The Bangalore-based brewery group has around 10,000 retail outlets in the country.

Holland-based Heineken NV is the world's second largest international brewing group with production in more than 110 breweries in over 50 countries. The Heineken brand is sold in more than 170 countries. The total group volume of Heineken is around 90.9 million hectolitre.

Heineken's three international brands Heineken, Amstel and Murphy's are its most popular brands. Alongside these international brands, its regional brands include, Cruzcampo, "33" Export, Moretti, Zywiec and Tiger, the largest regional brand in Asia. All these brands are owned and managed by the local operating companies. The brand portfolio of the Heineken company comprises a total of over 80 brands.

Carlsberg Breweries is based in Denmark and two of its brands, Carlsberg and Tuborg, are its most popular brands in the world. Mysore Breweries Ltd's flagship brand, Knock Out, a strong beer, has a market share of around 53 per cent in Karnataka and half of that in Andhra Pradesh. MBL expects to sell around 5 million cases by the end of fiscal 2000-01. It recently launched Bengal premium, a lager beer.

MBL expects to have a turnover of around Rs 1 billion in the next two years from the existing turnover of Rs 850 million.

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