Dive Brief:
- Heineken is selling its Empaque can- and bottle- making operation in Mexico to Crown Holdings Inc. for $1.2 billion, including debt.
- Crown, a global maker of beverage packaging with operations in 40 countries, will continue to supply Heineken's Mexican brewing operations.
- Heineken acquired Empaque in 2010 when it purchased the bottling and brewing operations of FEMSA in a $7.7 billion deal that gave FEMSA a 20% stake in the Dutch company.
Dive Insight:
It's not surprising that Heineken would look to a, unload a non-core asset and b, cut some of the debt it incurred in the FEMSA deal. Empaque simply isn't something that Heineken wants.
On the other hand, Empaque must have looked pretty desirable to Philadelphia-based Crown. The deal transforms Crown into the second-largest can maker in North America and brings it one step closer to overtaking rival Rexam.