Last week, the beverage group Kofola announced acquisition of a 51 % share of the Pivovary CZ Group. Pivovary CZ is #5 on the Czech beer market with brands Holba, Zubr and Litovel, that are popular mainly in the Moravia region where they are also produced, while more than a third of the production is exported. Lower shares of 29 and 20 % were bought by RSJ Investment Group and Úsovsko Agricultural Group respectively. The sides agreed not to share the value of the transaction with the public.

Kofola, the Czech cola drink with distinct herbal taste is one of the nation’s favourite. The drink was born in the 1960s to substitute western Coca-Cola, but fell out of popularity in the 90s once the Czech market opened to international competition. It has been reborn in the new millennium with an investment from Greek businessman Kostas Samaras, building its brand image on childhood nostalgia and retro design. Today it sits firmly among the top of the soft drink market in the Czech Republic, uniquely beating Coca-Cola on the cola market.

The acquisition of Pivovary CZ brings in a new segment for the Kofola Group, who, apart from their signature herbal cola drink, also have in their portfolio the spring water Rajec, popular grape soft drinks Vinea and Top-Topic and energy drinks Semtex. In 2020, the Kofola group entered the alcoholic drink segment by buying F. H. Prager, a craft cider producer. Holba, Zubr and Litovels will be the first beers in their portfolio.

Prepared by the Czech Trade United Kingdom & Ireland team

Source: Seznam zprávy