SABMiller may have become a bit of a laughing stock last week when on 8 September 2011 the Australian Takeovers Panel rejected its application to investigate Foster’s accounting policy, which SABMiller considered "misleading and deceptive".

The battle over Foster’s is turning nasty or ludicrous now that SABMiller has sent out its vanguard troups, made up of, you will never guess: its bean-counters! The USD 10 billion battle for control of Foster’s heated up once more when SABMiller on 2 September 2011 lobbed a grenade into Foster’s trenches, accusing its takeover target of making "misleading and deceptive" statements about its debt position and trading outlook when reporting its annual results.

Seems like they want to buy time. Or why should the Philippine government ask the World Trade Organisation (WTO) to revisit a ruling that declared a tax levied on spirits from the European Union and the United States in violation of the trade body’s rules? The Philippines government said in August that the ruling was not binding until the appeal was taken into consideration and processed by the WTO Appellate Body.

drinktec, the world´s leading trade fair for beverage and liquid food technology, is now a co-organiser of CBB, China Brew & China Beverage, International Brew & Beverage Processing Technology and Equipment Exhibition for China. The organisers of the two trade fairs signed a contract to this effect at the beginning of August 2011 in Beijing. The cooperation will be expressed for the first time at CBB 2012, and will cover the period up until 2024.

You have to give it to SABMiller: they have an impeccable sense of timing. A few days before Foster’s was to release its 2011 full year results, SABMiller went hostile on Foster’s by taking its AUD 9.5 billion bid (USD 10 billion) directly to shareholders, thus cutting out Foster’s management. SABMiller needs 90 percent of Foster’s shareholders to agree to ensure success.

Sometimes when hunting it’s better to wait out your prey than to act quickly. Take SABMiller. By doing nothing it is forcing Foster’s to act. Foster’s board is under shareholder pressure to negotiate with its potential acquirer SABMiller, after Foster’s shares fell below the price that SABMiller has offered. In June 2011, SABMiller had offered AUD 4.90 per share, causing Foster’s shares to jump to AUD 5.22 fuelled on expectations that the Australian company could also attract interest from other major beer groups.

Japanese brewers have deep pockets and they are out to shop. Final bids for Independent Liquor were due to close 4 August 2011 and if the rumour mongers are correct, neither of the big Australian retailers – Woolworths and Coles – submitted offers.

That’s pathetic. That’s truly desperate. Do they have nothing better to do? As investors await news about Foster’s full-year profits and a higher bid from SABMiller, Foster’s CEO John Pollaers on 29 July 2012 announced Foster’s had relaunched its iconic beer business and renamed its Carlton & United Breweries (CUB) business as Carlton United Brewers.

In July 2011 Asia Pacific Breweries (APB) and Heineken sold their stakes in Jiangsu Dafuhao Breweries Co and Shanghai Asia Pacific Brewery Company to China Resources Snow Breweries (CR Snow), a joint venture of CR Enterprise and SABMiller.

On June 16, Sidel inaugurated its new Beijing technical training center, a 900 sqm facility located within the Sidel Beijing Plant, equipped with three classrooms with capability to offer theoretical learning, including a virtual reality room that allows trainees to interact with projected models.