Tigrai Online
March. 29 2011

Heineken NV, the world’s third- largest brewer, submitted the highest offer for an Ethiopian brewery being sold by the government and is the only bidder for a second one, the country’s privatization agency said.

Heineken offered $85.2 million for Bedele Brewery SC, Wondafrash Assefa, spokesman for the Private and Public Enterprises Supervising Agency, said in an interview today in Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital. The Amsterdam-based company is also prepared to pay $78.2 million for Harar Brewery SC and there are no competing bids, he said.

“Our bids were the highest and we look forward to engaging formally with the Ethiopian government once it has completed its review of the detailed bid documentation,” Heineken spokesman John-Paul Schuirink said in an e-mailed statement. The company was told that process may take “up to 120 days,” he said.

Ethiopia is selling state-owned companies to private investors as it seeks to diversify its economy. The Horn of Africa nation, the continent’s biggest coffee producer, relies on agriculture to generate 43 percent of its economic output, according to the CIA World Factbook.

The government plans to sell 50 companies by mid-2015, including agricultural, food and printing businesses, according to Wondafrash.

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