Hammering it out

Drinks Union opened its first "Zlatá kovadlina" ("Golden Anvil") restaurant in Prague on 11 July 2005, putting its franchise pub concept into the nation’s capital, writes Lyle Frink from Prague. Featuring an anvil shaped tap, stylised chairs, and an assortment of other memorabilia from the era of the blacksmith, Drinks Union is hoping that consumers can make a connection to their past. "We wanted to emphasise that the blacksmith’s was always a centre for society in a village, and that Zlatopramen also has its traditions," said Drinks Union marketing manager Boris Rajdl.
The menu is designed to strengthen the connection between food and beer. "Beer is part of the whole food package," said Rajdl. "This is not for the lads, it’s for those want a drink in a nice environment," said Rajdl..

Biggest to best

In an effort to tidy up its house and cut costs, InBev has recently announced its intention to outsource its information technology infrastructure to IBM and BT. Never tardy, it has also sold its stakes in Spain’s brewer Damm and in Germany’s soft drinks bottler Bremer Erfrischungsgetränke and embarked on a share buy-back programme for up to EUR 300 million. The share buy-back programme is scheduled to run for twelve months and may be renewed thereafter. InBev’s Board of Directors has also decided to increase the economic ownership of InBev in AmBev over the same period through the purchase of AmBev’s preferred shares for an amount of up to EUR 500 million. ..

From Brussels - with love

That Interbrew UK is to revive Artois Bock, the predecessor to Stella Artois, which Interbrew’s forerunner Artois stopped brewing in the 1950s, may go down well with British consumers. But its efforts to introduce a wider variety of glasses and measures could backfire unless Interbrew decides to stick to Imperial measures and not the detested Metric ones. First things first. Artois Bock (6.2 % ABV) will initially be available in the UK and Belgium, and will be backed by a GBP 2 million advertising campaign in the summer. ..

You’d better score

No more Carlsberg on Liverpool football shirts? Initially, reports in the British media seemed to indicate that Carlsberg wanted to end its GBP 6 million a-year (EUR 8.7 million) sponsorship deal with Liverpool FC this summer after 12 seasons, as Liverpool had failed to win any major football trophies such as the Premiership. However, when Liverpool beat Chelsea in the Champions League semi-final in May, Carlsberg must have felt assured that the club’s profile would remain high, especially when Liverpool went on to score against AC Milan to become European champions. In the end, Carlsberg has extended its shirt sponsorship deal with Liverpool Football Club for another two years.

Booze Britain

In the 1990s the British Prime Minister Tony Blair touted ‘Cool Britannia’. A few years on it seems that Cool Britannia has lost out to ‘Booze Britain’. If media reports are to be believed, Britain is becoming a nation of heavy drinkers: Not only lager louts or Saturday night bingers all of Britain appears to be ‘under the influence’. For months, the British press has carried gruesome stories about city centres turning into war zones at night where drunken violence escalates and the police marches through in paramilitary assault gear to herd the drunks out of town before the doors of bars spill open. ..

Mine - but not quite yet

The bid by Pernod Ricard for Britain’s Allied Domecq, which could shake up the spirits industry world-wide, has run into difficulties amid rumours that there might be a counterbid in the offing. That’s why the Takeover Panel in the UK has set 29 June 2005 as the deadline for a consortium headed by Constellation Brands of the U.S. to make a rival offer for Allied Domecq or forever hold their peace. The announcement came as Allied confirmed it would hold a shareholders’ meeting on 4 July to approve its agreed GBP 7.5 billion takeover by Pernod Ricard unless a counterbid emerges. ..

It’s mine!

Beck’s former owners must have bargained well. Shortly before they sold Beck’s to Interbrew they renewed the exclusive distribution rights for Beck’s in the UK with S&N. This contract was to expire in 2012. The UK, where approximately 600,000 hl of Beck’s were sold in 2004, is one of Beck’s major export markets. The other two are Italy and the United States. In May InBev announced that it has reached an agreement with S&N to get back the distribution rights for Beck’s in the UK as of 2006 for a price or net present value of EUR 97.7 million. According to reports in the British press, S&N will pay the money in annual instalments until the end of the original licence period in 2012.

Patience pays off

SABMiller has agreed to buy a majority stake in Slovakian brewer Topvar. The value of net assets to be acquired was around USD 15.2 million. The company would initially buy a stake in Topvar of at least 33 percent, with a further sale six months later to allow SABMiller to increase its stake to at least 67 percent. The remaining shares held by the controlling shareholders are subject to put and call options exerciseable within 18 months of SABMiller bringing its stake up to 67 percent. Topvar’s owners included management (51 %), employees (34 %) and the Topolcany municipality (15 %). Analysts said the deal valued the brewer at around USD 49 million including debt. SABMiller already owns the third-ranking Slovak brewery Saris. Total industry beer sales fell 13 percent. ...

Clearing the air

A recent study into the financial impact of a smoking ban in Scotland has found out that the country would save GBP 4.2 billion (EUR 6.1 billion) if a total ban is enforced. According to Martin Information, London, the study also reveals which places will be exempt from the smoking ban. These include old people’s homes, people’s houses and cars, hospices, and psychiatric hospitals. The research compared expected cost savings between the proposed total ban on smoking in enclosed public spaces and a voluntary ban on smoking in pubs, bars and hotels. The research team found that the total ban saved more money. ..

More bits and pieces

Those who arrive late, have to take what’s left. See Germany, see Russia. In May, Heineken bought the Patra brewery in Yekaterinburg, Urals region, at an undisclosed price. Although this deal is to raise Heineken’s market share in Russia to 8.3 percent and volumes to over 7 million hl of beverages, Heineken continues to lag behind its more aggressive Russian competitors such as Baltika, SABMiller and Efes. The Patra brewery is based in the number three city in Russia, Yekaterinburg, which accounts for 17 percent of the total beer market. ..