Copenhagen, Sept 17 - Danish brewer Carlsberg has entered into an agreement with Vietnamese brewer Habeco to increase its stake to 30 percent from 16.07 percent, Carlsberg said on Thursday.
Carlsberg said in a statement the two breweries had also agreed on accelerating the strategic cooperation plan on key business areas.
Habeco is market leader in the north of Vietnam where Carlsberg is present through its brewery joint ventures in Hanoi and Halong, Carlsberg said in a statement.
Henrik Juel Andersen, head of Carlsberg Indochina told Reuters the brewery expected its annual volume growth in Vietnam to exceed market growth of 6-8 percent per year.
"In the next three to five years we expect the market will grow by at least 6-8 percent per year, and it is very clear that we expect our business to grow faster," Andersen said.
Carlsberg said its market share in Vietnam, together with Habeco, stood at 32 percent.
Reporting its second-quarter results last month, Carlsberg said its turnover in Asia rose by 26.7 percent compared with the same period the year before.
The brewer said it had two digit growth in volume in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia during the second quarter, and has flagged its interest in expanding in the region both organically and via acquisitions.
At its second-quarter results, Carlsberg trimmed its guidance for full-year 2009 net revenues to around 61 billion crowns from an earlier forecast of around 63 billion but kept its operating profit forecast of "at least" 9 billion crowns.
Carlsberg shares rose 2.4 percent to 383.00 Danish crowns at 1409 GMT, outperforming a 0.4 percent fall in the underlying OMXC20 index.