State-owned Budejovicky Budvar could be partially sold off with a strategic shareholder preferably brought in, Czech minister of agriculture Petr Gandalovic said in a debate on the country’s public television network.
And the leading candidate to buy into the brewery?
American Anheuser-Busch, brewer of Budweiser, according to the Financial Times.
Two bankers indicated that Heineken would also be interested in the brewery, but that A-B had better reason to pay the high price the Czech’s are seeking.
Trademark issues surrounding the Budweiser name, the first banker said, constitute grounds for A-B to pay a premium for the company. A-B, he said, would resolve the issue and save the company some $25 million in legal costs per year: “more than the net income of [Budejovicky Budvar].â€
A company source at Budvar declined to comment on potential bidders. The company source did confirm earlier reports that the firm is being converted into a joint-stock company. The ministry of agriculture, the company source said, has selected a financial and a legal advisor and is now looking for a Czech auditor. The company source emphasized that the ministry of agriculture the privatization process.
The agricultural minster said these steps would help assure that Budvar’s trademark is protected.
…signs of the Apocalypse.
Buy Budvar while you can, folks – methinks the final inning of this game is about to begin.
After a hundred years of chasing Budvar around the world, the Big Bad has finally sapped the resolve of the Czech state. Utterly shameful. AB could start making the best beer on the planet and I wouldn’t give those predatory vermin a dime of my money.