Belgium's Interbrew Acquires Munich's Spaten Beer

The world’s third largest brewery, the Interbrew group has bought up a piece of southern German brewing history. At a reported cost of €477 million ($540 million), the Belgian group said on Thursday it would take over the brewing activities of Munich’s 600-year-old Spaten Group, pushing Holsten from top place on the domestic beer market. Interbrew already owns popular beer brands such as Becks, Hasseröder and Diebels, and this new acquisition will give the company a hold on 11 percent of the German market. The deal gives Interbrew a clear route into the Weizenbier, or wheat beer segment. Weizenbier is particularly popular in southern Germany and is sold en-masse at Munich’s annual beer festival, Oktoberfest, which gets underway this weekend.