Radeberger Gruppe AG, the third largest brewer in Germany after Holsten and Interbrew, is planning to expand, Ulrich Kallmeyer, the company's chief executive, reported in a statement. However, Kallmeyer did not give any details on speculation that the company was planning to invest €1.0 billion in the acquisition of smaller regional brewers.

Radeberger increased its stake in the German brewer, Allgaeuer, from 57.3% to 89.4% at the beginning of this year. Radeberger, is part of the privately-owned group, Dr Oetker, which now declares beer production as its core business activity.

E-malt.com, the global information source for the brewing and malting industry professionals. The bi-weekly E-malt.com Newsletters feature latest industry news, statistics in graphs and tables, world barley and malt prices, and other relevant information. Click here to get full access to E-malt.com. If you are a Castle Malting client, you can get free access to E-malt.com website and publications. Contact us for more information at marketing@castlemalting.com .