Since last year, the government has been slowly preparing the ground for the transformation and eventual sale of the state-owned brewer BudÄjovický Budvar.
Originally, the government hoped to sell the famous brewery â worth an estimated 1.3 billion euros â by the end News ...
Latest news - 04-07-2008 ... of its term, but now it appears the preparations wonât be completed before mid-2010. Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek made clear on Tuesday that the government would rather delay the companyâs sale, rather than rush a deal, in order to ensure the brandâs survival into the future.
Before the Czech state privatises brewer BudÄjovický Budvar it will have to receive guarantees the famous brand will survive into the future. Originally, the government hoped to complete the privatisation process â from the companyâs transformation to final sale â by the end of its term, but now things arenât so certain. On Tuesday, Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek, meeting with Agriculture Minister Petr GandaloviÄ, expressed doubts that privatisation would take place before mid-2010. Petr GandaloviÄ stressed that no sale would go through unless key questions were resolved first: the Czech brewer has been involved in some 30 countries in long-running legal battles with US beer giant Anheuser-Busch over the Budweiser name, often cast as âDavidâ to Anheuser-Buschâs âGoliathâ. The Agriculture Ministry spokesman Petr VorlÃÄek stresses the importance of any sale of Budvar to a new owner not changing the firmâs position on the trademark battles:
âThe survival of the Budvar name is what is important; it is vital even following its transformation that the company not back down from current legal positions.â
BudÄjovický Budvar has not yet even undergone transformation to a joint-stock company and already Belgian brewer InBev â which recently bought Budweiserâs maker Anheuser-Busch â has been mentioned as a potential buyer. If that happened, InBev would own both Budweiser and Budvar trademarks and some have questioned whether the latter brand name would survive. But others are confident that dropping the Budvar label or anything less than promoting the famous name as a premium product would make little business sense. Prague-based journalist and beer-industry specialist Evan Rail:
âThe company probably will be privatised of course, ideally with a very benevolent partner who will help it grow and expand and will utilise what Budvar has: a great product, a great brand, a great history that is known around the world. There would be no sense in ruining that: there is no sense in burying the brand or in making it anything other than one of the worldâs great beers. Instead of buried, I think it would be far more likely the brand will be promoted and that production will be ramped up three, four, or even ten or twenty times.â
(radio-Prague)
<< Back