Bill Gates has admitted in the past that he is not much of a beer lover but invested heavily in Heineken
The billionaire co-founder of Microsoft, Bill Gates, acquired 3.76% of the shares of the Dutch brewery Heineken, put up for sale by Fomento Económico Mexicano (Femsa) as part of his new business plan.
According to the registry of the Authority for the Financial Markets of the Netherlands (AFM), the transaction, valued at more than US$ 900 million, was made through the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation on February 16.
And it is that on the 16th of this same month, the Mexican Femsa launched the first offer to sell its shares of Heineken, for which it expected to receive 3,000 million euros; as part of his plan to divest his 14.76% stake in the brewery and focus on businesses like Oxxo, its gas stations, its bottling company and its Fintech arm. In fact, that same day the Dutch company promised to spend up to 1,000 million euros to acquire part of the shares in Heineken N.V. and Heineken Holding N.V. offered for sale by Femsa.
Femsa then said that its new vision sought to maximize long-term value creation and focus on its key verticals, with greater strategic relevance, growth potential, financial and competitive strengths. In addition, its shares in Heineken is not the only thing that Femsa will put up for sale, since its divestment plans include getting rid of other businesses that are no longer in the company’s strategic focus.
Among the companies from which it plans to leave in whole or in part is the logistics firm Solistica; the American Jetro Cash & Carry, dedicated to the supply of restaurants and catering, where Restaurant Depot is also located; as well as Alpunto, dedicated to equipment, material handling and comprehensive services at the point of sale, and Envoy Solution.
Femsa’s Director of Investor Relations, Juan Fonseca Serratos, explained at the time to FORBES that the company is growing and there are many “avenues” to continue doing so in its businesses, which will now be fewer.
“There are other parts of the company that have been added over time, which are very good businesses, they are magnificent, what happens is that they are not so central to the capabilities and to what we do best,” he said then.