Germany's Krombacher Brewery has increased its stake in Starnberger Brewery, becoming majority shareholder of the business.  

GL Verwaltungs, "a limited liability company" owned by the family which owns Krombacher, now has a controlling stake in the business, a Krombacher spokesperson told Just Drinks.

Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.  

Krombacher has had a distribution partnership with Starnberger and a minority shareholding in the company since 2020, the spokesperson confirmed.

While the distribution agreement initially focused on Germany, in March 2024 it expanded to include other European export markets like Italy, France, Croatia, and the UK. 

When asked about the strategic rationale of the investment and how it expects Starnberger to help to grow Krombacher, the spokesperson added: "The market for Helles beer in Germany and beyond has been growing continuously for years.

"With Starnberger Hell, in particular, we have a product in our group that very well meets the demands and needs of many consumers and with which we can participate in the growth in this segment."

The acquisition will not result in any operational changes for employees at Starnberger as the company and its employees have been an “important operational part of the Krombacher Group for some time now and are already fully integrated into the group”, the spokesperson said.  

Originally located in Berg near Munich, Starnberger moved its operations to Feldafing on the opposite side of Lake Starnberg in 2020.  

The relocation coincided with the launch of the distribution partnership with Krombacher.  

In its financial results for 2024, released earlier this year, Krombacher saw a drop in beer sales hit overall revenues.

The privately-owned group generated revenue of €944.5m ($972.3m) in 2024, down 0.7% year on year.

“We had to contend with a variety of challenges in 2024,” Hendrik Kuhn, Krombacher’s sales director, said on the results at the time.

“Subdued consumer sentiment, a lack of distribution structures in parts of the retail sector at the beginning of the year, a rainy spring and, unfortunately, little impetus in the summer, despite an overall successful European Football Championship in our own country, were factors that influenced our results. Nevertheless, last year once again showed how strongly our brands are positioned in the market.”