CEDC toasts PB takeover approval

The price for the stake is zł.1.06 billion.

However, since CEDC took over Bols in August, the PB acquisition would give it control over the two largest vodka producers in the country, and thus UOKiK has hinged its approval on several conditions. The stipulations require that CEDC distributes no more than 65 percent of PB's and Bols' production through its own sales network between 2005 and 2008. In other words, independent distributors must sell 35 percent of these two companies' products.

"Given the fact that currently we distribute around 30-35 percent of Polmos Białystok and Bols sales, the 65-percent limit is not a difficulty in the implementation of our business plan," CEDC president William Carey explained.