US investment firm One Equity Partners (OEP) has decided not to buy a majority stake in German brewer Brau und Brunnen being put up for sale by banking giant HypoVereinsbank, informed sources told AFP on December 01. OEP had been in advanced negotiations to buy HVB's 62% stake in Brau und Brunnen, but the US private equity firm decided not to proceed with the acquisition after an in-depth look at the brewer's accounts, the sources said. In the middle of October, a spokesman for HVB had said that Germany's second-biggest bank was negotiating to sell its majority stake and that the talks were expected to be concluded by the end of the year.
Brau und Brunnen owns not only a number of leading beer brands, but also mineral water brands and last year generated annual sales of Ђ578 million (R4.43 billion) on a workforce of 2 400. It was scheduled to hold a news conference on Tuesday about its future.
The weekly newsmagazine Focus reported in its latest edition on Monday that the German food group Oetker, which already owns the German Radeberger brewery, was interested in Brau und Brunnen's sites in Berlin and Dortmund. Another brewer, Bitburg, had also expressed an interest.
The highly fragmented German beer sector, largely tied up in small, family-owned breweries, is currently undergoing a process of consolidation.
Belgian giant Interbrew recently became the biggest brewery in Germany by buying the Spaten firm.
03 December, 2003
