The German beer maker, Holsten-Brauerei AG, is in talks with companies competitors, which may see the break up of the company, The German newspaper Die Welt reported on November 15. According to the report Holsten is currently negotiating with Bitburger about the potential sale of its Koenig and Lich brands. The companies are discussing the possible sale of Holsten’s mineral water business Gerolsteiner, the newspaper said. According to the same report Carlsberg was tipped to acquire other brands from the company such as Holsten and Feldschloesschen. Speculation has surrounded the future of Holsten since early this year and a number of companies are thought to have looked at the possibility of buying Germany’s second largest brewer outright.

However, in late October the German press reported that Holsten’s major shareholder Christian Eisenbeiss was struggling to find buyers for his 48% stake in the brewery. Holsten declined to comment. The news story prompted Holsten’s share price to fall as much as 12.12% to €38.01.

The paper claimed that industry and banking sources said that no potential buyers were interested in buying Eisenbeiss’s shares. It said that many investors had been scared off by a new government law affecting drinks cans. A 25% deposit on throwaway cans has been imposed affecting Holsten, whose beer is mainly sold in cans.

19 November, 2003