Staropramen brewery

Heineken Wants To Buy Staropramen

According to The St. Louis Business Journal Heineken International is in talks with Anheuser-Busch InBev on account of buying the Czech beer brands belonging now to the latter corporation. These brands are currently being produced by Staropramen brewery, the second biggest brewery located in the Czech Republic. Its market value at the moment is estimated to be between USD 255 million and USD 306 million.

As a result of such an purchase Heineken can become the second largest player on the Czech market after SAB Miller’s Pilsner Urquell group. Thus, the Dutch brewer can add to its existing Czech beer brands portfolio (including now Krušovice, Hostan, Starobrno, Zlatopramen, Velké Březno, Louny and Kutná Hora) new names. Besides namely Staropramen they are Braník, Měšťan, Ostravar, Kelt, Velvet and Vratislav.

The question is how many of them will remain alive after the deal is closed. Thus, in Slovakia Heineken International shut down some breweries (for instance, Martiner and Corgoň) that it had bought previously and moved production of their native brands into new places. The same can happen in the Czech Republic unless its anti-monopoly office take some measures.

Note: Heineken International, a Dutch brewing company, was established in 1864 by Gerard Adriaan Heineken in Amsterdam. Nowadays it operates in more than 65 countries and owns more than 120 breweries. Its most popular beer brands are Heineken Pilsener, Tiger Beer, Żywiec, Starobrno, Cruzcampo, Zagorka, Birra Moretti, Ochota and many others (more than 170 internationally and regionally known beers).

Photo: Staropramen brewery, by Matěj Baťha (wikimedia.org)

Date: 08/04/2009