Jean-François van Boxmeer

"The transaction with Heineken also included 49 per cent of the long drinks company, but we kept the remainder and managed the business. Heineken did not have much interest in that business so a year later I went to see Jean-François van Boxmeer, who was later to become Heineken’s chief executive, and offered to buy the Dutch brewer out of the venture. ‘Interesting,’ he said. ‘You actually want to buy the business from us?’ I replied: ‘Yes. I can pay cash for it now,’ and he laughed. ‘That’s great news,’ he said. ‘If you want to buy it, basically it means it’s worth a lot. If you want to buy it I don’t want to sell.’ He tapped his nose. ‘You have a nose for business,’ he said, ‘I want to sit next to you as a seller!’ We ended up selling the long drinks company to a listed Russian company and, yes, we both made money on the deal."

"The transaction with Heineken also included 49 per cent of the long drinks company, but we kept the remainder and managed the business. Heineken did not have much interest in that business so a year later I went to see Jean-François van Boxmeer, who was later to become Heineken’s chief executive, and offered to buy the Dutch brewer out of the venture. ‘Interesting,’ he said. ‘You actually want to buy the business from us?’ I replied: ‘Yes. I can pay cash for it now,’ and he laughed. ‘That’s great news,’ he said. ‘If you want to buy it, basically it means it’s worth a lot. If you want to buy it, I don’t want to sell.’ He tapped his nose. ‘You have a nose for business,’ he said, ‘I want to sit next to you as a seller!’ We ended up selling the long drinks company to a listed Russian company and, yes, we both made money on the deal."