Czech Republic: Interbrew Central European Holding buys out the minority stock of Pivovary Staropramen
The shareholders of brewer Pivovary Staropramen at an extraordinary general meeting approved the plan of majority owner Interbrew Central European Holding to buy out the stock from minority owners for CZK 41 per share worth a nominal CZK 25, according to Prague Daily Monitor as of August 29.
Some small shareholders didn’t like the proposed price or the squeeze-out itself and they submitted their own proposals to the company, but these proposals were rejected during the vote. Small shareholders can be squeezed out, according to an amended legislation, by large owners holding more than 90 % in a company.
Pivovary Staropramen with 14 % in the Czech market is the second largest beer producer behind Plzensky Prazdroj. Last year, its sales reached CZK 3.43 billion. Interbrew Central European Holding, a part of brewing group Inbev, holds some 99.57 % in Pivovary Staropramen. The rest is scattered among some 18,000 small shareholders.
If all shareholders with a stake higher than 90 % in a company wanted to squeeze out minority owners, they would have to pay some CZK 12 billion to CZK 13 billion. Until now, some 173 companies have called a general meeting due to the squeeze-out and the overall costs are estimated at CZK 7 billion to CZK 8 billion, according to databases and calculations of the Cekia agency.
The total number of companies which can launch the squeeze- out process amounted to around 400. Some companies have already expressed their interest to maintain the current structure of ownership.
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