AB-InBev buys Chinese brewer Ginsber
After months of speculation, AB-InBev, the world's major brewer, confirmed on 24 April 2014 that it has fully acquired the Chinese beer company Siping Ginsber, but did not disclose financial terms of the purchase. The acquisition was approved in March by the Chinese Ministry of Commerce and Chinese media valued the deal at EUR 450 million (USD 622 million).
That’s a neat sum for a brewer whose beer volumes are around 5 million hl, according to market research company Canadean.
Besides, most of Ginsber’s brands are mainstream. There will be a bit of local premium in there but certainly not “high end”.
Ginsber has long drawn interest from international brewers. Back in the 1990s UK brewer Bass bought a stake in Ginsber, but failed to carry out proper due diligence and eventually withdrew from China in 2000 altogether. Ten years ago, media thought that CR Snow (SABMiller) was mulling over a bid for Ginsber to strengthen its foothold in the northeast. Nothing came of that either.
AB-InBev probably acquired the business to gain capacity and distribution in the northeast of China, rather than for any brands.
China’s major brewer is CR Snow, a joint venture between SABMiller and China Resources Enterprises, with a market share of 23 percent. Tsingtao comes second with 17 percent, followed by AB-InBev with about 13 percent, Chinese media say.
