Bill Gates purchases stake in Heineken brewing firm

Bill Gates, the famous founder of Microsoft tech company, acquired a stake in Heineken Holding NV. The billionaire purchased a 3.76% stake in the Dutch brewing company headquartered in Amsterdam, Netherlands.

Gates stake purchase was revealed through a filing made by the Netherlands' regulator, Authority of the Financial Markets (AFM). It said the shares were bought on Feb. 17 from Fomento Económico Mexicano, S.A.B. de C.V. or FEMSA, which has sold all of its 18 million shares in Heineken Holding, according to Reuters.

FEMSA is a beverage and retail company headquartered in Monterrey, Mexico. It is also known to operate the largest independent Coca-Cola bottling group in the world and owns the biggest convenience store chain in the country.

At any rate, many outlets noted that the Microsoft founder previously declared that he is not a big beer drinker. Thus, the purchase of a stake in Heineken seems a bit surprising. He bought a total of 10.8 million shares which is said to be valued at €883 million or about $939.87 million based on the current market prices.

Although it is a multi-million deal, Bill Gates acquired just a minority stake in Heineken Holding. As mentioned earlier, it was less than five percent but still considered significant.

The Seattle Times reported that Gates purchased the stake on the same day FEMSA launched a €3.7 billion stock and equity-linked sale for part of its holdings in Heineken. It is offloading its stake in Heineken as part of its strategic plan.

Meanwhile, FEMSA shared it has stepped up a bookbuild offering of €1.9 billion in shares in Heineken NV for €91 per unit and €1.3 billion in shares in Heineken Holding, which it sold for €75 each.

Photo by: Stella de Smit/Unsplash