No financial details were disclosed, but Bavaria said in a statement it has purchased 60 percent of shares and intends to acquire the whole company by 2021.

The two family-owned brewers will have combined production of 6.5 million hectolitres in 2016, Bavaria said. That compares with Dutch brewer Heineken's 188 million hectolitres last year.

Palm has five breweries in Belgium with annual capacity of about 1 million hectolitres and also makes speciality beers Rodenbach, Brugge, Steenbrugge, Cornet, Arthur’s Legacy and Estaminet.

(Reporting by Anthony Deutsch in Amsterdam, additional reporting by Philip Blenkinsop in Brussels, editing by Louie Heavens)