SABMiller moves to top spot in China’s beer market

Having entered the Chinese beer market in 1994 through its 49 percent stake in China Resources Snow Breweries (CR Snow), SABMiller has managed to become China’s major brewer with a market share of 14.9 percent (by its own account), followed by Tsingtao Brewery Co. Ltd., which has a share of 13.9 percent and Yanjing Brewery Co. which has 10.2 percent.

PR disaster

You would have thought that Coca-Cola learnt a thing or two from its Belgian PR blunder in 1999, when the Belgian Government temporarily banned the sale of all Coca-Cola drinks. More than 100 children had to be hospitalised following the consumption of coke’s drinks which forced Coca-Cola to withdraw some 15 million cans and bottles from sales – its biggest product recall in its corporate history. Come August 2006: a different location but the picture is uncannily the same.

Unwanted attention

All it took was a bit of takeover speculation published in the national media and the Foster’s Group Ltd, Australia’s biggest beer and wine maker, saw its shares jump 9.2 percent to a record high of 5.95 AUD at the end of August. The Sydney Morning Herald newspaper had said that Foster’s was being sought by a number of suitors. Although Foster’s Chief Executive Trevor O’Hoy was quick to point out that the company hadn’t received any specific takeover offers, which subsequently sent the shares down as much as 3 percent, the published rumour still served as a timely reminder that Foster’s strategy of self-defence was not all that deterring if put to the test.

Boom, crash!

In his final column for the Adelaide Advertiser, Australian wine-writer Phillip White reminds his readers that 20 years ago South Australian grape growers were encouraged to pull up vines to alleviate the dire effects of a national and global wine glut and laments that the industry did not learn from its mistakes. Facing yet another wine glut, the big wineries are slashing millions of dollars off the value of unsold wine in stock which makes retail prices crash. The medium-sized wineries, i.e. those crushing from 1,000 to 10,000 tonnes, are caught up in the panic and cut their prices in the battle to maintain shelf space in the stores.

Foster’s fire sale of assets continued with the most recent sale of its two Vietnamese breweries to Asia Pacific Breweries (APB) for USD 105 million and its business in India to SABMiller for USD 120 million. The sale marks the group’s exit not only from loss making operations but also from brewing in the Asian region.

Only a matter of time

Baltic Beverages Holding (BBH) announced in June 2006 that they would build a brewery in Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan and home to more than 2 million inhabitants, which will commence production next spring. The brewery will have an initial capacity of one million hl of beer. BBH will team up with a local partner, Sarbast Plus, and will hold a share in the joint-venture of 75.1 percent. The total investment is EUR 50 million. What a shame that, as they were signing the contract, an Uzbek government resolution went into force that will end permanent tax, customs, and other exemptions for joint-ventures with foreign investors. In the future, exemptions will be granted only for limited periods.....

Kirin Brewery to buy out Kirin Beverage

In May 2006, Japan’s second-largest brewer Kirin announced plans to absorb the affiliate Kirin Beverage Corp. in a deal valued at about Yen 75.2 billion (USD 676.5 million) and to create a holding company structure in July next year to improve efficiency. This is part of Kirin’s grand group vision, aptly named “KV 2015”. Kirin’s PR managers must have congratulated themselves on having come up with a subtle reminder that 2006 is the 250th anniversary of Mozart’s birth. Music lovers will remember that Mozart’s music has been catalogued in the 19th century under what has been called the “Köchelverzeichnis”, abbreviated “KV” (“K” in English)....

Foster’s Group to sell its overseas breweries?

Guess who let it be known that the Foster’s Group was going to sell its overseas breweries for up to AUD 200 million? Seek no further. Just follow the money. Because who would profit from such a sale? The buyer obviously. And who could possibly want to buy Foster’s breweries in India, Vietnam, China, Fiji and Samoa? Well, SABMiller, for one.

At the races

Rumour has it that San Miguel only bought Tasmania’s brewer J Boag & Sons in 2000 because its executives wanted to attend the Melbourne horse races. That’s a good story even though there is more to it than meets the eye. San Miguel Corp., which also happens to be the largest Philippine food and drinks manufacturer, has in the past few years tidied up its house and embarked on a shopping spree in the Asia-Pacific region including Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Australia and China in an effort to broaden the company’s business reach and to decrease dependency on the domestic market, where it has a virtual monopoly in several categories. Still, that has left many wonder about its long-term intentions.3 percent in 2005..

In December 2005, Coopers’ shareholders voted overwhelmingly to remove Lion Nathan’s pre-emptive right to buy shares in the company, thus effectively barring Lion Nathan from its door. Nevertheless, Lion Nathan has announced since that it would extend its AUD 420 million (USD 317 million) hostile takeover offer for Coopers Brewery until 20 March 2006.