The businessman Bill Gates has acquired up to 3.76% of the share capital of the Heineken beer brand. His investment is equivalent to a total of 10.83 million shares that until now were in the hands of the conglomerate Fomento Económico Mexicano (Femsa). In total, the operation has had a cost of 902 million dollars (849 million euros) for the founder of Microsoft.
This purchase carried out by the philanthropist took place last week, the same day that the Mexican company announced its exit from the beer business, putting 6% of the shares that belong to Heineken up for sale. Femsa plans to sell 14.8% of its stake within two to three years.
Of the total shares purchased, 6.65 million were purchased in a personal capacity by Bill Gates, while the other 4.18 million shares were obtained through the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation trust. This information has been released this week by the financial officer of the Netherlands, the Dutch Authority for Financial Markets (AFM, for its acronym in Dutch).
In addition, as Bloomberg reports, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has also invested in Dutch online grocery store Picnic BV and has a 1.34% stake in Dutch fertilizer producer OCI NV. Likewise, his company Microsoft is demonstrating more activity than ever in all the markets in which it remains operational at international levels.
This news comes after the tycoon visited Jordi Cruz’s ABaC restaurant to have a drink. In this way, Gates shows that his taste for the most refreshing drinks influences his investment plans that surprise his followers more every day due to the eccentricity of his decisions.
