{"id":31298,"date":"2026-04-10T10:56:43","date_gmt":"2026-04-10T08:56:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/?post_type=news&#038;p=31298"},"modified":"2026-04-10T10:56:43","modified_gmt":"2026-04-10T08:56:43","slug":"heineken-ends-decades-long-presence-in-drc-with-brewery-stake-sale","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/news\/heineken-ends-decades-long-presence-in-drc-with-brewery-stake-sale\/","title":{"rendered":"Heineken ends decades-long presence in DRC with brewery stake sale"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"x_MsoNormal\" aria-hidden=\"true\" data-olk-copy-source=\"MessageBody\"><span style=\"background-color: var(--global--color-background); color: var(--global--color-primary); font-family: var(--global--font-secondary); font-size: var(--global--font-size-base);\">Heineken has sold its stake in Bralima, its brewing subsidiary in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), ending decades of \u200bdirect ownership in a market where conflict had severely \u200cdisrupted its business.<\/span><\/p>\n<div>\n<p class=\"x_MsoNormal\"><span style=\"background-color: var(--global--color-background); color: var(--global--color-primary); font-family: var(--global--font-secondary); font-size: var(--global--font-size-base);\">The Dutch brewer said on Friday it had sold its shareholding in Brasseries, Limonaderies et Malteries, \u200bwhich will take over operations, including production, distribution and \u200bemployees. Financial details were not disclosed.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"x_MsoNormal\">Bralima was founded in \u20601923 by Belgian investors and had been majority owned by \u200bHeineken since 1986.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"x_MsoNormal\">Heineken will retain ownership of its brands and earn\u00a0\u200brevenue through long-term trademark licensing agreements covering Heineken, Primus, Turbo King, Legend and Mutzig.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"x_MsoNormal\"><span style=\"background-color: var(--global--color-background); color: var(--global--color-primary); font-family: var(--global--font-secondary); font-size: var(--global--font-size-base);\">&#8220;This step allows the business to continue under a locally anchored \u200bmodel,&#8221; Guillaume Duverdier, President of Heineken&#8217;s Africa Middle East region, \u200bsaid in a statement. &#8220;It also reflects our move towards a more asset-light \u200capproach \u2060in selected markets.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"x_MsoNormal\">The sale follows a turbulent period for Heineken in DRC. In February 2025, Bralima&#8217;s brewery and depots in the eastern city of Bukavu were extensively looted after Congolese security forces \u200bwithdrew amid an \u200badvance by M23 rebels.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"x_MsoNormal\">In June, Heineken said armed personnel had seized its facilities in Bukavu and Goma and\u00a0\u200bit had lost operational control.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"x_MsoNormal\"><span style=\"background-color: var(--global--color-background); color: var(--global--color-primary); font-family: var(--global--font-secondary); font-size: var(--global--font-size-base);\">In November, Heineken transferred its Bukavu \u200bbrewery \u2060to a separate Mauritius-based buye, retaining a three-year buyback option should conditions stabilise.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"x_MsoNormal\">Friday\u2019s deal covers the remaining operations, \u2060three breweries \u200bin Kinshasa, Kisangani and Lubumbashi employing \u200bapproximately 731 people, in areas not directly affected by the eastern conflict.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"x_MsoNormal\">&#8211;Reuters&#8211;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":31299,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"news-type":[44],"class_list":["post-31298","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-finance","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"","published_date":"","news_description":"Heineken has sold its stake in Bralima, its brewing subsidiary in DRC","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/31298","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/31298\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31300,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/31298\/revisions\/31300"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31299"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31298"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=31298"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}