Japan’s Asahi to buy Plzeňský Prazdroj

The Japanese company Asahi Group Holdings is to buy the Czech brewery Plzeňský Prazdroj from SABMiller, Reuters reported on Tuesday. Plzeňský Prazdroj, which makes the famous Pilsner Urquell lager, is changing hands as part of a EUR 7.3 billion deal that also includes a number of other breweries in the Central and Eastern Europe region. Asahi reportedly outbid PPF, the investment firm of Czech tycoon Petr Kellner, and other contenders. The European Commission made the sale a condition for agreeing to SABMiller’s acquisition by Anheuser-Busch InBev.