Did Treasury’s board take the decision to put the company up for sale without consulting its major shareholders? Looks like it.

How the mighty have fallen. The state-run United Bank of India on 1 September 2014 became the first lender to declare Vijay Mallya a wilful defaulter, which in the world of business is the equivalent of a persona non grata.

Releasing its trading update for the half year ended 31 March 2014, Australia’s major brewer Lion announced on 7 August 2014 that across the entire group, revenue decreased 0.6 percent to AUD 2,674 million as Lion’s various businesses continued to face highly competitive market conditions.

Having fought off an AUD 4.70 per share bid from private equity outfit KKR earlier this year, Treasury Wine Estates probably thought they were safe from a takeover. Well, that pious hope only lasted until early August. The new AUD 5.20 offer from KKR and its partner Rhone Capital is large enough to force Treasury’s board to the negotiating table.

Australia’s third-largest brewer, Coopers Brewery, has valued itself at around AUD 500 million (USD 464 million) as it prepares to undertake another share buyback. Media report that shares in the company are worth AUD 357 each. Not bad for a brewer that sells around 750,000 hl beer.

In its first quarter trading update published on 24 July 2014, SABMiller said that sales at its Australian unit CUB fell by 6 percent, while volumes slipped by 3 percent.

Patience (helped by wads of dollars) eventually paid off. Five years after entering initial takeover discussions, Diageo can finally claim ownership of United Spirits (USL), India’s major drinks company, media reported on 23 June 2014.

Five years ago, when cider barely registered as a popular drink, Australian politicians and lawmakers were loudly voicing their concerns about the increasing consumption of pre-mixed spirits (“alcopops”). Now in 2014 the latest data from Roy Morgan Research reveal that cider consumption is about to overtake that of pre-mixed spirits, perhaps within months.

Craft beer sales may be on the rise in Australia, but craft beer brewers are still struggling to make serious inroads into the lucrative on-premise sector. Why? Because they suspect that the country’s two big brewers have managed to protect their dominance over the beer taps of Australia’s pubs and bars.

The recent decision (May 2014) by French luxury goods company Moët Hennessy to launch a new e-commerce site that sells the company’s entire portfolio of wine and spirits directly to the public has been met with outrage by liquor retailers, Australian media report.