Gheorghe Grec, one of the founders of beer producer Bere Mures (which was sold to Heineken), has decided to use part of the 35 million euros collected from Heineken to buy back four-star hotel Gemisara, in the Geoagiu-Bai resort, Hunedoara county. The hotel, which was originally bought by Bere Mures from the AVAS (State Assets Resolution Authority) for 600,000 euros in 2004, was sold to Heineken in a deal that also involved the sale of the mineral water and beer businesses.
Since Heineken intends to focus on beer production, it comes as no surprise that the two assets taken over by the Dutch-based company (the mineral water business and the hotel) are to be sold. As a result, when the deal was signed, the option was open for one of the six Bere Mures shareholders to buy back the hotel after the transaction was concluded, according to previous statements made by Mihai Radulescu, a partner with law firm Schoenherr, which represented Heineken in the transaction.
"I bought the hotel from Heineken and became its sole shareholder. I have outlined a 1.5 million-euro investment programme to boost the hotel's value to 11-12 million euros," says Grec.
Virgil Mailat, the most high-profile Bere Mures shareholder, intends to invest the bulk of his sum in a network of private clinics in Mures county, according to previous information given to ZF by the businessman.
Emil Morariu, who, in turn, collected around 35 million euros from the beer industry-centred deal, could look towards the real estate market. He previously announced that he intended to invest around 4 million euros this year in the construction of a three or four-star hotel in Targu-Mures.
Bere Mures exclusively produces PET-bottled beer, whilst the company's portfolio includes the brands Neumarkt, Dracula and Sovata. In 2006, the company sold 100 million PET bottles, i.e. 1.35 hl of beer, from which around 1.24 million hl is Neumarkt beer. At the end of last year, sales of PET-bottled beer accounted for around 45% of the overall market, compared with 3% in 2001.
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