Dutch brewer Heineken completes Russia exit, sells business for USD1

Dutch brewer Heineken has announced the completion of transaction to sell its Russia operations to Arnest Group for a symbolic USD 1.

"The purchase price for the Heineken Russia business is €1 for 100% of the shares," Heineken said in a statement.

"The transaction has received all the required approvals and concludes the process Heineken initiated in March 2022 to exit Russia, incurring an expected total cumulative loss of €300m," the brewer said.

Arnest Group has taken responsibility for the 1,800 Heineken employees in Russia, providing employment guarantees for the next three years. 

Heineken’s CEO and Chairman of the Executive Board Dolf van den Brink said: “We have now completed our exit from Russia. Recent developments demonstrate the significant challenges faced by large manufacturing companies in exiting Russia. While it took much longer than we had hoped, this transaction secures the livelihoods of our employees and allows us to exit the country in a responsible manner.”