After a surprise take over of the family-owned König brewery in Duisburg in January, the Hamburg based Holsten Group has become Germany’s major brewing group. It now controls 10 per cent (or 10.4 million hl) of the domestic market.
Holsten has been on a shopping spree for premium brands for some time, buying the regional brewer Licher (1.2 million hl) last August.
The prestigious König brewery (2.2 million hl), which was ranked 11th of German breweries in 1998, brews two brands with national distribution: the König Pilsener and the non-alcoholic Kelts.
While König has established strong links with the on-premise trade, Holsten has focussed on the food retail sector. No financial details of the deal were released..

Carlsberg knows how to take everybody by surprise. The Danish brewer announced that it would sell its non-core businesses and review its ownership structure. Its 43 per cent stake in the Copenhagen amusement park Tivoli will have to go as well as its 61 per cent stake in the industrial arts company Royal Scandinavia. Moreover, Carlsberg is reviewing the financial and legal aspects of its ownership. This can only mean loosening the grip of the Carlsberg Foundation and its 55 per cent stake in the brewery. The latter move might allow the brewer to raise capital more easily should it decide to play a stronger role in the global consolidation process. As a first step, the group will divide its brewing business into two units: Carlsberg Denmark and Carlsberg International.6 billion (US$217.8%).

The state-owned Czech brewery Budejovicky (Budweiser) Budvar n.p. expects its fiscal 1999 net profits to reach 325 million Czech crowns (US$9.1 million), with revenues at Ckr2.4 billion. In 1998, the brewer posted a net profit of Ckr306 million on sales of Ckr2.13 billion. Output for 1999 is forecast at 1.25 million hl beer compared to 1.16 million hl in 1998. The full privatisation of Budweiser has been repeatedly postponed by the Czech governments due to trademark disputes with Anheuser-Busch.

Research by Zenith International indicates that sales of energy and sports drinks rocketed to £700m (US$1.0bn) last year, making the brand Red Bull Britain’s third biggest soft drinks brand by value. More than 20 brands were launched last year. £20m (US$28m) was spent on advertising energy and sports drinks, says Zenith.

First road rage, now air rage. Excessive drinking is the main cause of air rage, a British survey of cabin crews from 206 commercial airlines found. The poll, conducted by London Guildhall University, found that insufferable passengers, delays, stress, smoking bans and cramped conditions also provoked attacks on planes.

The American burger giant has taken a 33% bite of Pret a Manger, Britain’s premier sandwich chain, in a deal valued at £40m to £50m in cash. Pret a Manger runs more than 100 outlets in London and the southeast of England and currently plans to take the business overseas. Taking a stake in Britain’s hottest sandwich chain comes natural to a company like McDonald’s that is keen on diversifying into niche food brands which have potential to be rolled out internationally. The Aroma coffee chain is one previous example. The deal was met with consternation by the British media, fearing that Pret a Manger would sell out on its standards.

They have taken the first judicial hurdle. Interbrew has received the official go-ahead to pursue a judicial review of the Competition Commission’s decision at the beginning of January to block the brewer’s £2.3bn acquisition of Bass brewers. In May or June, depending on the timing of the next General Election, hearings will take place at the High Court in London. A decision may be reached in July.
Interbrew is challenging the prescribed remedy of having to sell Bass Brewers to one buyer only. The Belgian brewer is not challenging the ruling as such. It is believed that the legal action will give Interbrew at least until the end of the year to complete the disposal.
Stewart Gilliland has been appointed Managing Director of Interbrew UK as of 30 April 2001..

That’s it. Another pubs estate has been sold to a bank. Whitbread, the hotels, restaurants and leisure operator, announced the sale of its 3,000-strong pub division to Morgan Grenfell Private Equity. The price was £1.625bn (US$2.3bn). Whitbread also said that around £1.13bn (US$1.6bn) would be returned to its shareholders via a cash payment and would include a loan note alternative. The payout for shareholders is expected to be completed by June.
Morgan Grenfell Private Equity, a Division of Deutsche Bank, is a new entrant to the sector. It has named Ian Payne, formerly Managing Director of Hilton’s Ladbroke casinos division, as CEO of the company that will run the Whitbread pub estate.
All eyes are now set on Scottish&Newcastle and its 750 pub outlets which are up for sale..

Beer production in Russia rose 22% last year compared to the previous year. 54.9 million hl were produced compared to 44.99 million hl in 1999.
According to Vladimir Schischin, Director-General of the Association of Beer Industries, the increase in production is mainly attributable to large-volume producers such as Baltika, St. Petersburg, Otschakovo, Moscow, Krasny Vostok, Kasan, and the Klin brewing combine. At the same time, 30 areas of Russia showed a decline in beer production. The main reason for this is that volume producers are "beginning to squeeze out" local producers.
Beer imports dropped again in 2000. Exports of Russian beer are quite low. They go mainly to CIS countries. Additional capacity can be added only in the next expansion phase which can start in 2001..

The Sejm, Poland’s parliament, passed legislation in March which bans TV commercials for beer between 6am and 11pm, prohibits billboards, movie and some magazine campaigns. The bill also proscribes drinking alcoholic beverages in public and sets terms for employee alcohol testing. This is a step up on the previous legis-lation which at least allowed the promotion of non-alcoholic beer. The law is now on its way to the Senate which has 30 days to review it before it is passed on to the President’s office for a final decision.
Poland’s Media Watch, which monitors outdoor ad spend-ing, reported that in 2000 brewers spent US$16m on this form of advertising, more than 10% of the outdoor sector’s entire turn-over.5m hl (31.2% of the market).1% of the market).43m hl, down 12% from 1999..