Heineken to buy Russian brewer

LONDON, May 6 (UPI) -- Netherlands brewer Heineken, the world's fourth largest beermaker, has agreed to buy Russia's Patra brewery for an undisclosed sum.

Patra is based in Yekaterinburg, Russia's third-biggest city, and owns a 17 percent share of the country's beer market.

While Heineken did not disclose the cost of Patra, analysts estimated Patra's value at near $50 million, the BBC reported Friday.

Heineken has predicted the Russian beer market will grow by 5.5 percent this year and suggested Patra's production capacity could be sharply increased.