Ursus Breweries
Ursus Breweries, a subsidiary of Asahi Breweries Europe Ltd., is a Romanian beer producer. The company is based in Bucharest and owns 3 breweries in Timișoara, Buzău and Brașov as well as a craft mini-brewery in Cluj-Napoca and employs around 1,400 people. Ursus Breweries’ brands are: Ursus, Timișoreana, Ciucaș, Grolsch, Peroni Nastro Azzurro, Redd's, Stejar, Azuga, Pilsner Urquell, St. Stefanus and cider brand Kingswood. The company was owned by SABMiller from 1996 until March 2017, and by Asahi Breweries Europe Ltd since March 2017. History. In 1996, the South African Breweries purchased Vulturul Buzau. A  year later, South African Breweries acquired Pitber Pitesti and Ursus S.A. Cluj-Napoca. In 2001, Ursus S.A. bought the majority stake of Timisoreana Beer S.A. In 2002, Ursus S.A. and Timisoreana SA merged into a single integrated company, named Romania Beer Company S.A. In 2004, SABMiller plc (formerly named South African Breweries) acquired the majority stake of Aurora Brasov, a company that merged in the same year with Romania Beer Company S.A. A year later, in 2005, the new name of SABMiller's operations in Romania becomes Ursus Breweries. Ursus was the title sponsor of the Pacific Racing Formula 1  team between 1994 and 1995, when the team folded. In 2014, Igor Tikhonov was appointed CEO of Ursus Breweries. On the 31st of March, 2017 Asahi Group Holdings Ltd. has completed the purchase of Ursus Breweries in a transaction that included the former SABMiller Central and Eastern European businesses and brands. Its CEO stated that the acquisition would not change Ursus Breweries' line of business.