Heineken

The Dutch brewer said it will take a loss of €300m on the division, which is being offloaded to Russia's Arnest, which makes aerosol cans.

Many Western firms jettisoned their Russian operations when the country invaded Ukraine last February.

Heineken's Dolf van den Brink said: "It took much longer than we had hoped."

The chief executive and chairman added: "[But] this transaction secures the livelihoods of our employees and allows us to exit the country in a responsible manner."

Anheuser-Busch InBev, the world's biggest brewing company and the owner of Budweiser, announced Wednesday it wants to buy SABMiller, the second-largest brewer — and the maker of long-time rival brand Miller Genuine Draft.

The deal would create a multinational behemoth valued at around $275 billion with annual sales of $73.3 billion, more than three times its closest rival, Heineken.