CVC Capital Partners, the UK-based private equity group, aims to turn Staropramen into a globally recognised brand after buying the Czech beer as part of its $3bn acquisition of Anheuser-Busch InBev’s central European brewing operations.

István Szoke, head of CVC’s new central and east European buy-out team, told the Financial Times that Staropramen was “the hidden gem” among the assets, which are valued at $2.2bn in the deal. AB InBev will also receive a potential $800m payment, conditional on CVC’s return on investment.