One of the largest malting houses in the world, French Groupe Soufflet, intends to purchase the Hungarian Nagykanizsa brewery of Dreher Rt, owned by South Africa's SABMiller, according to Hungary’s media and AgraFood East Europe. With registered capital of Ft 3,5bn, the French firm funded a venture in Hungary in 1998, which leased the malting factory of the Nagykanizsa brewery from Dreher. The contract was due to terminate this September, but Dreher agreed to sell unit to Soufflet. The price of the deal was not disclosed. The French firm is said to be considering setting up a major European malting facility at the site.

04 March, 2003