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Asia/Australia
India | Diageo is in line for a cash windfall from the sale of the Indian Premier League Royal Challengers Bengaluru cricket team, which was acquired by a consortium backed by Blackstone for approximately USD 1.8 billion. This transaction is a key outcome of its portfolio review, Diageo initiated in November 2025, which is intended to strengthen the group's balance sheet. It also signals a deliberate shift away from non-core assets.
Asia/Australia
India | Once a member of India’s BIMARU states – an acronym used pejoratively to describe their backwardness – Uttar Pradesh wants to transform itself into an economic powerhouse. Its “progressive” and “well-balanced” excise policy for 2026–27 has made the brewing industry pledge investments of nearly INR 55 billion (USD 600 million) over the next three years. The Brewers Association of India (BAI) said on 22 February, that the policy has created clarity in licensing, distribution and taxation, encouraging long-term planning by brewers and allied industries.
Asia/Australia
China | Carlsberg agreed to divest its 50 percent stake in Lhasa Brewery to its Chinese partner, following years of confrontations, media reported on 30 January. Lhasa Brewery was established in 1988 in Lhasa, Tibet, but Carlsberg only became involved in February 2004, when it formed a 50-50 joint venture with Tibet Development.
Asia/Australia
India | Kirin is in talks with Ankur Jain, founder of Indian beer company B9, to exit its investment in the firm, media reported on 26 November. The well-known craft brewer faces deepening financial distress: its net loss for FY2024 has soared to approximately USD 84 million on revenues of approximately USD 72 million.
Asia/Australia
Japan | Asahi Group aims to normalise logistical operations by February after a cyberattack on 29 September forced widespread suspension, though not all products will be available to ship by that time. The beverage firm also admitted on 28 November that the personal details of more than 1.5 million customers may have been leaked. The Russia-based ransomware group Qilin has claimed responsibility. Asahi insisted it did not pay any ransom.
Asia/Australia
Japan | Japanese brewer Asahi revealed on 27 November that in a massive cyber-attack on its system on 29 September the personal information of more than 1.5 million customers - specifically their names, gender, addresses and contact information - could have been leaked. Data belonging to about 107,000 current and former employees and 168,000 family members of staff were also potentially leaked. Those affected would be notified soon.
Asia/Australia
Australia | Many will have wondered how the family-owned Coopers brewery in Adelaide could spend AUD 70 million (USD 46 million) on a visitor centre - or what is nowadays called a “brand home”. That is a lot of money even when considering Australia’s high construction costs. But the figure becomes less extravagant if you bear in mind that the visitor centre also features a sizeable copper distillery and an underground temperature-controlled stillage capable of holding up to 5,000 casks of 200 litres each.
Asia/Australia
Australia | Privately-owned Coopers Brewery has bucked the overall beer market contraction trend, selling 806,000 hl beer in 2024-25, up2.4 percent from 2023-24. The figure excludes the sales of non-alcoholic beers and Coopers’ contract manufacture beer, and is a sharp contrast to the 0.9 percent total contraction of the national beer market (including keg sales) over the corresponding period.
Asia/Australia
Thailand | Travelling to Thailand soon? Visitors should be aware that the country's strict rules on afternoon drinking are being reconsidered. Since 8 November, anyone caught drinking alcohol between 2 pm and 5 pm would have been fined up to THB 10,000 (USD 308). Then came a swift backlash from the tourism and hospitality sectors. They argued that the rule hampered the usual service patterns at restaurants and bars and created confusion for tourists.
Asia/Australia
Japan | Luckily, they still have fax machines. Asahi, the maker of Japan's best-selling beer, was forced to halt production at most of its 30 factories in the country at the end of September after a cyber-attack. While all of its facilities in Japan – including six breweries – have partially reopened, its computer systems were still down two weeks later, the BBC reported. That means Asahi has to process orders and shipments manually, either by phone or by fax machines, resulting in much fewer shipments than before the attack.
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BRAUWELT on tour
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BRAUWELT on tour
