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Jacobs coffee dynasty and Mounties fund plot £4bn Pilsner bid

The investment vehicle of the family behind one of the world's largest chocolate and coffee dynasties has teamed up with a leading Canadian pension fund in a £4bn raid on Pilsner Urquell and other leading beer brands.

Sky News has learnt that Jacobs Holding has joined forces with PSP Investments, a retirement fund which invests on behalf of Canada's famous Mounties, to bid for the Central and Eastern European assets of SABMiller.

Brands include the Czech lager brand Pilsner Urquell and the Polish beers Tyskie and Lech, with the portfolio collectively accounting for more than $2bn (£1.6bn) in sales last year.

The sale process has been initiated by AB InBev, the world's largest brewer, which recently completed its takeover of London-listed rival SABMiller.

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The consortium of Jacobs and PSP is vying for the beer brands with private equity firms, as well as Japan's Asahi and the Chinese brewer of Snow lager.

Jacobs Holding was founded in 1994 by Klaus Jacobs, a German entrepreneur, and its sole economic beneficiary is the family's eponymous charitable foundation.

AB InBev put the assets up for sale in order to smooth the regulatory path to its takeover of SABMiller, and has already sold Peroni and Grolsch, as well as the Meantime craft beer brand, in the UK.

Asahi acquired the brands in Britain, while in the US, AB InBev struck a deal to offload brands to Molson Coors Brewing Co, one of its biggest competitors.

Neither Jacobs Holding, which now owns a majority stake in Barry Callebaut, the premium chocolate and cocoa producer, nor PSP could be reached for comment.

Lazard, the investment bank, is handling the auction for AB InBev.