What’s going on at Carlsberg? After years of trying to hike its minority stake in Habeco, Vietnam's third largest brewer is allegedly seeking another investor after Carlsberg dropped its plan at the end of December 2016.

The unions call it a victory. AB-InBev, the new owner of Carlton & United Breweries (CUB) has invited the 55 picketing maintenance workers back to work in their previous positions on union terms and conditions, it was reported on 7 December 2016. According to rumour, the workers’ pay is enormous: each worker earns an estimated AUD 200,000 per annum.

Big changes afoot at Anadolu Efes. The beer and soft drink group announced on 21 November 2016 that Robin Michael Goetzsche, 55, who has served as its President and CEO since November 2015, will be leaving his position as of 31 December 2016. According to the statement, Mr Goetzsche resigned for personal reasons.

Workers at Coca-Cola bottling plants in three Chinese cities went on strike after the US soft drinks company announced it was selling its bottling interests in the country to its local partners, media reported on 25 November 2016. Coke workers fear they will lose their jobs or pay under the state-owned employer.

Australia’s number two brewer Lion has sold its Australian premium wine business to Accolade Wines for reportedly close to AUD 100 million, thus ending a costly expansion into wine which began in the early Noughties.

Looks like Carlsberg could get lucky with Habeco. The northern Vietnamese brewer at the end of October 2016 started trading on the Unlisted Public Company Market. Both Sabeco and Habeco are expected to enter the stock market properly by 20 December. Their trading prices will be used for selling the state’s stakes in those firms.

Coopers Brewery, the largest independent brewer in Australia, is spending AUD 63 million on a new malting plant at its Adelaide site. The plant will be completed by the end of 2017, and heralds a return to malting for Coopers. It had sold its stake in Adelaide Malting Company in 2002 to help fund relocating its operations from Adelaide’s leafy eastern suburbs to a new brewery at Regency Park.

Although the dispute between the company and the Electrical Trades Union (ETU) drags on, CUB has dismissed a statement from the ETU, which claims that the brewer will now struggle to meet Christmas and summer stock demands.

So it’s beer again for Trevor O’Hoy, who resigned as CEO of Foster’s in 2008, after 33 years with CUB, thus taking responsibility for the brewer’s ill-fated foray into wine.

Following the loss of various AB-InBev brand licences, including Corona Extra in September 2016, Kirin’s Australian unit Lion will be dethroned as the major brewer in Australia. Kirin had a licensing agreement with AB-InBev under which it sold several popular brands. These rights reverted to Lion’s domestic rival CUB after the takeover of SABMiller by AB-InBev.