After a quiet beginning to 2013, M&A activity is heating up in China’s beer market, as Carlsberg said on Monday it was considering upping its stake in Chongqing Brewery, intensifying the fight among global brewers for production assets there.
miller coors jv partners will both 'vigorously' contest action
Molson Coors has launched legal action against SAB Miller in response to the UK company's move to terminate a licensing agreement granting the US-Canada brewer rights to license SAB products in the country, with the latter blaming low volume sales.
Heineken has confirmed to BeverageDaily.com that it is working with JP Morgan as it begins a strategic review of its Finnish business, and PepsiCo licensee, Hartwall but refused to comment on rumors of a potential $788m sale.
A recent M&A wave in brewing means that ‘global giants’ AB InBev, SAB Miller, Heineken, Carlsberg and CR Snow are piling the pressure on local players, particularly in markets such as China.
SAB Miller is blaming ‘exceptionally cold and wet winter weather’ for a third quarter volume decline in China, which meant lager volumes declined in its Asia Pacific business by 1% overall.
SAB Miller CFO Jamie Wilson admits that the firm has suffered volume declines with Foster’s Group in Australia and is not regaining share, but claims that the takeover was never a ‘short-term journey’.
SAB Miller says it wants to slash the cost of its mainstream beer brands in Africa to drive growth, as it identified a $3.7bn value opportunity as consumers move away from informal or illicit alcohol.
After launching its first cassava-based beer in Mozambique last year, SAB Miller is taking part in an EU-funded scheme that involves researching alternative foods drawn from the crop’s byproducts.
SAB Miller insists the key attribute of the African beer market is rapid growth rather than competing for share, as in Europe, as the firm opens a new $100m brewery in Nigeria.
SAB Miller CEO Graham Mackay has noted a 'secular trend' against mainstream US beer brands and the premium light segment, but says high-end innovation can turn things around.
SAB Miller is likely to go higher to secure the purchase of Foster’s, but with the Australian beer market in decline, analysts have questioned the potential value of a tie-up.
SABMiller has envisaged a “Marginal Survival” scenario for 2030 whereby breweries are located on ships so beer makers can move with people and resources and away from natural or man-made catastrophes.
As SAB Miller launches a new beer brand in the UK, an analyst at Nomura has warned that its embrace of a new business model could lead to some short-term volatility.
SABMiller has introduced a series of projects and schemes in a new sustainability report as it aims to reduce emissions on beer by 50 per cent by 2020, cut water use a quarter by 2015, and take advantage of lightweight packaging.
SABMiller is facing the possibility that strikes at its soft drink operations in South Africa could spread to the beer division if no deal is reached tomorrow.
SABMiller has launched the Water Futures partnership with WWF after drawing attention to the water scarcity problem in a new report out earlier this week.
SABMiller says the economic downturn is beginning to have a noticeable impact on its operations as consumer demand for its lager brands has tailed off from the start of this year.
SABMiller says it will further sink its teeth into the Romanian beer market by acquiring a 72 per cent interest in Transylvania-based brewer Bere Azuga.
This week, SABMiller declines to bid for S&N, Playboy makes a
push into US energy drink market and The Scotch Whisky Association
aims to maintain a freeze on spirits tax.
SABMiller's Polish arm Kompania Piwowarska received the go ahead on
Friday by competition authorities to acquire local brewer Browar
Belgia to ease strain on its production for an undisclosed sum.
SABMiller has today received the support of Koninklijke Grolsch's
management to move ahead with a proposed €816m acquisition of
the Netherlands-based brewer's operations.
SABMiller says that a continued focus on expanding in emerging beer
markets like Africa, Asia, Latin America and Central and Eastern
Europe has allowed it to boost lager sales by 11 per cent.
SABMiller today revealed it is to expand its presence within the
high growth beer markets of Eastern Europe with the acquisition of
Polish brewer Browar Belgia for about €65m.
SABMiller, one of the world's biggest brewers, is establishing a
major presence in China through its joint venture China Resources
Snow Breweries, which last week said it would acquire two breweries
in northern China for a combined...
International brewer SABMiller said it had signed a joint venture
deal with Coca-Cola Amatil to import, market and distribute premium
beer brands in Australia.
Russia and China have spurred on SABMiller's beer sales over the
last year, but shares struggled to recover after the brewer
remained cautious on future profits in North America.
Consumers all over the world are trading up for their drinks, says
SABMiller's chief executive, telling an analyst conference how the
beer industry can secure long-term growth.
A soaring premium beer market in Russia and growing consumption in
Poland and Romania are driving forward a major international
brewer's European profits by offsetting problems in Hungary and
Slovakia, writes Chris Mercer.
SABMiller's Chinese joint venture, China Resources Breweries, has
acquired the Chinese brewing interests of Australian-based Lion
Nathan, which entails three breweries in the populous Yangtze River
Delta Region. After losing...
China Resources Breweries Limited, an associate of South
African-based SABMiller and a subsidiary of China Resources
Enterprise, is set to invest $82.2 million (€68m) in the
construction of a new brewery in the city of Dongguan, in...
SABMiller, one of the world's largest brewery groups, has increased
its presence in the Romanian market after announcing the
acquisition of a controlling stake in leading local brewer Aurora.
Harbin, the leading Chinese brewery, has advised shareholders to
resist SABMiller's takeover bid for the company. The bid was
influenced by Ancheuser-Busch's 29 per cent acquisition of the
company earlier in the week. SABMiller...
SABMiller, the world's second largest brewer, has added another
Polish brewery to its portfolio there. The addition of the Dojlidy
brewery's brands will help extend the company's geographical
presence in the north east...
The first five months of the current fiscal year have been good for
the world's second largest brewer, SABMiller, despite the
devaluation of currencies in South Africa.