Austrian Brau Union group to add Warsaw brewery to its Polish collection

Most likely Austrian Brau Union (BU) will acquire the upcoming Browary Warszawskie (BW) brewery share issue, giving it a strategic stake in the plant. A decision on the issue will be made at the BW shareholders meeting on Dec. 30. The Austrian group declared it would invest approximately zl.200 million in the Warsaw plant. By the end of the year BU will likely obtain Interior Ministry permission for the investment, which it has been seeking for eight months. Last year BW sold 660,000 hectoliters of beer, giving it 2.9% of the domestic beer market. Since the beginning of this year BU has been trying to create a strong brewing group in Poland, having acquired a majority stake in Rzeszow-based brewery Van Pur and 24% of Browary Bydgoskie Kujawiak. Unofficially, this year the group sold 1.4 million hectoliters of beer, giving it third position in the sector. (Puls Biznesu, p.5) P.J.