Amsterdam, 21 December 2012 – Heineken N.V. (‘HEINEKEN’) today announced that HEINEKEN and Efes Breweries International N.V. (‘EBI’), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Anadolu Efes, agreed to unwind their partnerships in Kazakhstan and Serbia:

• HEINEKEN will sell its 28% stake in Efes Kazakhstan to EBI; and
• HEINEKEN will acquire EBI’s 28% stake in Central Europe Beverages (‘CEB’), the holding company for the Serbian operations, thereby obtaining full ownership.

Selling the minority cross-holdings to each other will result in a consideration to be paid by EBI to HEINEKEN of US$161 million.

Each of the transactions announced today is anticipated to be completed no later than May 2013. The completion, which is subject to certain conditions, is expected to result in an exceptional book gain for HEINEKEN. The proceeds will support the company’s financial objective to return to a net debt/EBITDA (beia )¹ ratio of below 2.5 times within 24 months of the closing of the APB transaction.

HEINEKEN holds a solid position in the Serbian beer market with a brand portfolio that includes the Heineken® brand, which is the leader in the international premium segment, the Amstel brand and the local brands PilsPlus, Zajecarsko, MB Pils and Master.

The Kazakh beer market offers attractive growth opportunities for the Heineken® brand in the international premium segment and HEINEKEN will continue to export the brand to the country.

The partnerships in Kazakhstan and Serbia were created in 2008, when HEINEKEN and EBI combined their operations in the two countries. Following a strategic review the decision has been taken to unwind the partnerships.

¹ Before exceptional items and amortisation of brands.