FRANKFURT, Germany, Feb. 13 (UPI) -- Oetker has become Germany's largest beer maker with the friendly takeover of Brau under Brunnen.
The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reported Friday that the German food giant assumed the 61.7 percent majority ownership of brewer Brau und Brunnen from Hypo-Vereinsbank.
That move makes Oetker, which already owns the Raderberger group of beer companies, the biggest brewing operation in Germany.
Oetker will now control German beer brands Berliner Pilsener, Brinkhoff und Oderland in addition to its current brands Radeberger, Clausthaler, Schoefferhofer, Binding, Berliner Kindl, DAB and Ur-Krostitzer.
Oetker said it sees the takeover as a step to combating progress made by foreign beer makers in Germany.
The takeover was friendly, with banking power Hypo-Vereinsbank selling its stake in the brewing firm for 220 million euros ($282 million), about 80 euros ($102) per share. Brau and Brunnen shares stood at 75.80 euros ($97.08) per share on the open market at the end of trading Thursday.
Oetker told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung it intends to obtain more than a 75 percent majority of Brau and Brunnen's voting shares.
