Heineken Chasing Remaining APB Shares & Multicultural Beers

Some additional stories coming out of Heineken today as they work to secure the remaining shares of Asia Pacific Breweries and as they work to revive their brand in the U.S. with Multicultural beer.  First the APB Details from marketwatch:

AMSTERDAM–Dutch brewer Heineken NV said Tuesday it will launch a mandatory unconditional cash offer for the remaining shares of Asia Pacific Breweries Ltd .

MAIN FACTS:

– Heineken makes an offer for all the 12,127,715 shares in APB it does not already own, representing 4.7% of APB’s issued share capital.

– The offer will remain open for acceptance until 8 January 2013.

– Heineken already owns 95.3% of the APB shares after it earlier this year bought the shares in APB that were owned by Heineken’s joint venture partner Fraser & Neave for S$53 per share.

And new strategy details from Business Week:

After two years of declining volume in its Heineken brand in the U.S., the Amsterdam-based brewer bought Mexico’s Fomento Economico Mexicano SAB’s brewing unit early in 2010 for $7.4 billion, adding Dos Equis as well as Sol and Tecate to its Dutch-led portfolio. He’s now focusing on reviving the company’s namesake brew with new bottles, increasing advertising behind the Heineken brand and tripling the sales force to get consumers excited about James Bond’s beer again.

Progress in the U.S. mirrors the rest of the world, where the 148-year-old brewer is increasingly realizing that drinkers want more than its namesake ale. The company bought control of its Asia Pacific Breweries Ltd. venture this year to maintain control over brews including Tiger beer, which it said it will develop internationally.