The Dutch Heineken group is interested in taking over the South African wine and spirits group Distell (Nederburg, Two Oceans). On 18 May, Distell announced that Heineken had approached the company because of the acquisition of the majority stake. Heineken confirmed to Reuters that it was dealing with Distell about a possible transaction but declined to elaborate.
Wine and spirits would be new business areas for Heineken. The intersection of the two groups lies in cider. Here, Heineken (Strongbow) and Distell (Hunter‘s) are the two largest producers in the world. Distell is the largest producer of South African wine and had a market value of €1.85 billion on 17 May. The biggest brands are distributed in Germany by Mack & Schühle. cg
