FEMSA Enters Drugstore Business in Mexico

MONTERREY, MEXICO--(Marketwire - Nov 9, 2012) - Fomento Económico Mexicano, S.A.B. de C.V. (NYSE: FMX) (BMV: FEMSAUBD) (BMV: FEMSAUB) ("FEMSA") announced today that its retail subsidiary, FEMSA Comercio, has agreed to acquire a 75% stake in Farmacias YZA, a leading drugstore operator in Southeast Mexico, with the current shareholders staying as partners with the remaining 25%. Headquartered in Merida, Yucatan, Farmacias YZA currently operates 333 stores.

FEMSA believes that it can contribute its significant expertise in the development of small-box retail formats to what is already a successful regional player in this industry. In turn, this transaction opens a new avenue for growth for FEMSA Comercio.

The transaction is pending customary regulatory approvals and is expected to close in the first quarter of 2013.

FEMSA is a leading company that participates in the beverage industry through Coca-Cola FEMSA, the largest bottler of Coca-Cola products in the world; in the retail industry through FEMSA Comercio, operating OXXO, the largest and fastest-growing chain of stores in Latin America, and in the beer industry, through its ownership of the second largest equity stake in Heineken, one of the world's leading brewers with operations in over 70 countries.