Czechoslovakia

"The doubts seemed to be quickly dismissed. The move to East Germany initially became a successful model. The new companies, which were formally subordinate to Ilbau as a subsidiary of Bau Holding, grew to 700 employees within a few months. Just one year later, the East German subsidiaries were conducting so much business that the total group’s revenue shot up by 15 percent. Haselsteiner then targeted other markets, including Poland and the then still-existing Czechoslovakia, alongside Hungary where he was already active. In Hungary alone, Bau Holding was active with five own companies. Shareholders enjoyed substantial profits shortly after the IPO - in 1991, a dividend of 20 percent was paid. It was a golden time - sales expectations were corrected upwards almost monthly. By the end of the financial year 1991/92, Bau Holding had generated more than ten billion Schillings (700 million euros). For Austrian standards at the time, this was an incredible revenue. And the group was highly profitable: the profit amounted to 400 million Schillings (29 million euros). By 1993/94, the revenue had grown to 15 billion Schillings (1.1 billion euros) - an increase of 50 percent in just two years. Profits also continued to rise - although not quite as sharply: They now amounted to 450 million Schillings (32 million euros)."

"Two investigations Rupert requested to be done showed that he seriously considered entering the beer market at this early stage in his career as entrepreneur. The one was to find out where the best brewing equipment could be obtained − typical of Rupert, only the best was good enough. Heusschneider told Hoogenhout during a conversation that the Skoda factories in Pilsen, Czechoslovakia, were the best bet. Establishing a brewery with a capacity to produce 120 000 bottles a month would cost about £100 000, he said."