Czech Republic: Budejovicky Budvar may be put up for sale
Czech brewery Budejovicky Budvar NP, which has been fighting a legal battle with Anheuser-Busch Cos., may eventually be put up for sale, The Associated Press reported February 22.
The process would depend on the outcome of the trademark dispute with St. Louis-based Anheuser-Busch, Czech Agriculture Minister Petr Gandalovic, whose ministry is in charge of the state-owned company, said Wednesday.
"It is not on the agenda now, but the Cabinet will definitely discuss it," he said.
Until now, various Czech governments have said there were no plans to privatize the brewer.
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Anheuser-Busch and Budvar are disputing the Budweiser or Bud trademarks in dozens of countries.
The St. Louis brewer started using the Budweiser name in 1876, 19 years before the Czech brewery opened. But the Czechs say Budweiser refers to Budweis, the original name of the city where Budvar is located, and they have right to use this name.
On Tuesday, Trade Minister Martin Riman suggested that Budvar could be sold to help cover a fiscal budget gap. He estimated the value at between $935 million and $1.4 billion.
A-B wouldn't comment on whether the brewer is interested in Budvar, saying it doesn't comment on speculation.
A-B had once courted the Czech brewery, but ended the negotiations in 1994.
It was not immediately clear if the trademark battle would be wrapped up soon, but the two rivals recently indicated they may be finding common ground.
Anheuser-Busch agreed in January to distribute Budvar's lager Czechvar in the U.S., giving the Czech company access to Anheuser-Busch's unrivaled network of 600 independent wholesalers. The brand is now sold in 30 U.S. states.
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