Japan's Kirin Holdings and Heineken of the Netherlands are in discussions about a possible purchase of the Kirin's Brazilian beer operations, the Dutch brewer announced Friday/
Earlier, Japan's Nikkei reported that Heineken could pay pay around 100 billion ($869 million) yen for the deal, which could happen as soon as this year.
However, in a statement issued Friday, Heineken cautioned that there was "no certainty that an agreement will be reached."
Kirin began operations in Brazil, the world's third largest market for beer, in 2011, after acquiring Schincariol, a Brazilian brewery. However, the economic slowdown in the country in recent years has made competition among brewers stiff, Nikkei said.
Nikkei also stated that Kirin is expected to make losses under the Heineken deal in the tens of billions of yen.
Reuters contributed to this report.