KUALA LUMPUR (April 20): Guinness Anchor Bhd (GAB), which has received shareholders' approval to change its name to Heineken Malaysia Bhd, expects to enjoy the cost-savings from being part of Heineken's global supply chain in six to 12 months' time.

"If we can tap into the global procurement contracts that Heineken has, it will be much more efficient in terms of purchasing than GAB can do as a stand-alone brewer," the brewer's managing director Hans Essaadi told theedgemarkets.com after the extraordinary general meeting (EGM) today.

He was referring to procurement of raw materials such as barley, glass and aluminium.

He said the cost-savings will be seen in the next six to 12 months as GAB still has existing contracts for the raw materials.

He added that these cost-savings would make the company more efficient and more profitable, but declined to elaborate more on the quantum of savings the company is expecting.

Today, shareholders have approved the change of the brewer's name to Heineken Malaysia Bhd at the EGM.

Heineken NV controls GAB after it acquired 100% stake in GAPL Pte Ltd last October from Diageo Plc. GAPL held 51% interest in GAB.

Heineken is the second largest brewer globally by revenue, according to its official website.

At 11.56am, shares of GAB rose two sen or 0.14% to RM14.64, with 60,500 shares traded, for a market capitalisation of RM4.42 billion.