Japan’s Asahi takes control of brewer Plzeňský Prazdroj

The Japanese brewery Asahi took over one of the Czech Republic’s biggest breweries, Plzeňský Prazdroj, On Friday. The brewery was bought, alongside with four other European brewers, from the multinational SABMiller. The Czech brewer, the biggest in the country, will now be part of Asahi Breweries Europe and will be answerable to the Tokyo company headquarters. The regional headquarters will be in Prague. The sale of some SABMiller assets was the price demanded by the European Commission for clearance of its purchase by AB InBev. Pilsner Urquell is the best known beer produced by the Plzeň brewery.