A major beer deal, the preparations for which were reported by HN in autumn 2022, has finally come to a conclusion. The majority share in the company Pivovary CZ Group, which produces Holba, Zubr and Litovel beers, is being acquired by the Kofola ČeskoSlovensko beverage group. The transaction, which is subject to the approval of the antitrust authorities, is expected to be completed early next year. Kofola said in a press release on Wednesday. It did not specify the value of the transaction. According to HN’s sources from the breweries, it exceeded CZK 1 billion.
Pivovary CZ Group is the fifth largest brewing group in the Czech Republic, which will brew over 800 thousand hectolitres of beer in 2023. Almost 500 people are employed at the breweries in Hanušovice, Přerov and Litovel.
Back in 2022, representatives of Pivovary CZ Group talked about the scenario that an investor would enter the company and expand the existing shareholder structure. In the end, however, one hundred percent of the shares were sold in a process directed by the consulting company Patria Corporate Finance. Earlier this year, there was speculation in particular about the interest of the brewing troika, Heineken. The big brewing groups, however, did not ultimately bid in the tender.
The atmosphere around the tender was also negatively affected by legal battles between shareholders in the parent group HSK Invest. Here, Kuropata and his allies are jostling for influence with the Slovak investment group Crane Constancy Investments of entrepreneurs Michal Martinko and Braňo Prieložný. Last year, Crane bought out the shares of two minority shareholders and thus concentrated a total of 27 percent of the shares of the group, whose assets are counted in billions.
In addition to the sold brewing companies, it includes several agricultural companies, such as Agrodružstvo Roštění, Pekárny Blansko, real estate companies PMS Reality and Slezan Holding, and also Pila Javořice. The group’s management, headed by Kuropata, is also involved in several legal disputes with former shareholder and brewery boss Petr Fridrich. The former head of the breweries was the second largest shareholder of HSK Invest after Kuropata. It was he who sold his one-fifth stake to the Slovaks after the split with Kuropata.
Credit: Marek Holba