Bill Gates paid about $902 million for a 3.76% share in the Dutch brewer Heineken Holding NV. Bill Gates bought a tiny stake in Heineken Holding NV, the company that controls the second-largest brewer in the world.
The philanthropist and founder of Microsoft purchased 3.8% of Heineken Holding last week, according to a report by the Dutch regulator AFM. He bought 4.18 million shares through the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Trust and 6.65 million shares directly from Heineken Holding.
The shares were purchased on February 17, according to the documentation submitted by the Netherlands’ Financial Markets Authority.
According to estimations by Bloomberg, the shares are worth €848.2 million ($902 million) at the closing share price on February 17. Gates purchased the stake the same day that Fomento Economico Mexicano SAB began a €3.7 billion stock and equity-linked sale for a portion of its Heineken assets. Following a strategic assessment, the Mexican Coca-Cola bottler and operator of convenience stores, Femsa, revealed plans to sell its holding in Heineken last week.
According to Femsa, its €1.9 billion accelerated bookbuild offering of shares in Heineken NV priced at €91 each and €1.3 billion of shares in Heineken Holding sold at €75 each saw strong sales.
The Dutch online grocer Picnic BV and fertilizer manufacturer OCI NV received investments from the William & Melinda Gates Foundation Trust foundation, which also owns a 1.34% share.
Since 2000, the foundation has spent nearly $80 billion and employed almost 1,800 people, making it a longtime powerhouse in the nonprofit sector. Requests for a response from Heineken and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation were not immediately entertained.
