The
Belgian-Brazilian company InBev, through its subsidiary AmBev, has just
acquired 91 percent of Argentina’s Quinsa, increasing its holding from the
56% it already owned.
Last Thursday, April 13, the
Bemberg group, whose activities in Argentina date back to the year 1890,
sold all its shares in the brewery Quilmes for 1.2 billion dollars. This
transaction wraps up an operation that began in 2002, when AmBev paid 600
million dollars to purchase an interest in Quinsa’s equity, with an option
to increase its participation. What was described four years ago as a
“strategic alliance” has now turned into an example of how business is done
in the era of globalization.
This transaction gives InBev
full control over the leading company in Argentina’s beer market. When the
then AmBev purchased a minority interest in Quinsa in 2002, this company had
a market share of 64 percent; that market share now stands at more than 80
percent. If we consider that the company is also the number one brewery in
Bolivia, with 98 percent of the market, in Brazil. with 64%, in Paraguay
with 85%, and in Uruguay, with 58%, and that in Chile it has a market share
of 11 percent, we have that it practically monopolizes beer sales in the
countries that make up MERCOSUR.
For its part, the Bemberg
group, which will receive the huge sum of 1.2 billion dollars in cash, is
exempt -under Argentinean laws- from income tax and is under no obligation
to reinvest that sum -or any part of it- in the country.
Thus, the 1.2 billion dollars
will be included in statistics under the coveted title of “foreign
investment,” and government-hired technocrats will boast about how an
increase in foreign investment entails an improvement in conditions for the
population. In this case, however, the investment went into the purchase of
something that already existed and that will continue to manufacture what
was already being manufactured. There are no new jobs, no new products, no
innovation, no new developments… just pure and simple financial speculation.
With branches in 30
countries, InBev is the world’s largest brewer by volume, and it holds first
place in sales in the Americas, Europe and Asia.
In
Europe its workers are currently in a pre-conflict situation in response to
the closing of factories and layoffs announced in Belgium and other
countries.
The Bembergs, for their part,
will continue to operate in Argentina. They’ll do so through the
Bisa investment fund created
in 1993, which today owns many businesses, among them: Caro Cuore, a leading
designer and manufacturer of quality lingerie; Barugel Azulay, home
furnishings and building materials; and Papel Misionero, a cellulose plant
accused of contaminating the Paraná River.
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In
Montevideo, Enildo
Iglesias
© Rel-Uita
April 19, 2006 |
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