Speculation has been rife that international brewers are interested in Foster’s domestic beer business if it is separated from the struggling wine unit.

In November 2008, Lion Nathan, Australia’s number two brewer, had approached CCA with an AUD 7.6 billion takeover offer. CCA’s board rejected the offer on the grounds that it was too low. This has convinced Australian commentators that the Coca-Cola Company, which owns over 30 percent of its Australian offshoot, has vetoed the deal.

It is hoped that this will become an annual event and develop into the “world’s most sought-after wine educational experience”. This year’s invitees, from Canada, China, Finland, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Japan, Singapore, UK and USA, were chosen from an initial list of over 4,000. The 2009 seminar will be led by Michael Hill Smith and Andrew Callard, assisted by Brian Croser and James Halliday and the approach has been described by AWBC as “a sea-change about how people perceive Australian wine”.

Shanghai, the business capital of China’s mainland, is an important beer market. As early as 1997 five international joint venture breweries were operating there. Not all proved successful. Eventually, Carlsberg had to sell its brewery to Tsingtao and Foster’s its plant to Suntory.

The study found that young drinkers understand standard drink labelling but use the information to choose stronger drinks to increase or maximise their alcohol consumption. Referring to products some call ‘malternatives’, Australian Federal health minister Nicola Roxon said that she would crack down on manufacturers producing beers that tasted like alcopops to avoid a higher alcohol excise.

According to reports in the Indian media, Heineken may pay a multi-year USD 100 million “commercial fee” to UB for handling distribution and bottling of its beer brands in India.

Someone has been buying up shares in Foster’s. Who could it be? A bank? An investment fund? A competitor? Step forward – North American brewer Molson Coors. Interestingly, the three brewers have been in bed together before. The three-way relationship came to an end a decade ago when Foster’s sold its half share in Canadian venture Molson Breweries for AUD 1.1 billion to Molson, as the beer maker was known before its merger with Adolph Coors. Now Molson Coors has been revealed as the mystery buyer of a significant stake (5%) in Foster’s in October 2008. The market responded positively on 6 November 2008 with shares rising 24¢ to AUD 6.09 and some watchers think Molson “is buying a seat at the table” ahead of any carve up of Foster’s brand portfolio.

Why should Diageo engage with Cobra Beer if it can get into partnership with a mightier player? India’s UB Group said that its subsidiary United Spirits and Diageo have entered into exclusive talks for a limited period. Apparently, Diageo hopes to gain better access to the subcontinent’s growing middle class with its whisky brands.

Whoa. Just when everybody thought that the Australian beer market was a neatly carved up duopoly with Coca-Cola-Amatil looking after the rest, we were forced to rethink our assumptions. On 17 November 2008 Australia’s number two brewer Lion Nathan confirmed that it is in discussions with Coca-Cola Amatil (“CCA”) regarding a potential merger. Lion Nathan said it would acquire all of the issued shares in CCA via a scheme of arrangement. If CCA accepts the offer, the resulting entity would resemble a complicated foursome as Lion Nathan is majority-owned by Japan’s brewer Kirin (46%) and CCA is in cohorts with SABMiller.

China’s Ministry of Commerce said on 17 November 2008 it approved InBev’s acquisition of Anheuser-Busch – albeit with some restrictions on the new firm’s investments in China.