Earlier last week, the UK-based Pension Investment Research Company (PIRC) opened the flak on SABMiller by issuing a statement saying that shareholders should reject the company’s "excessive" levels of executive pay at the AGM.

The Chinese Government’s interest in the company may influence the spread of Diageo’ products throughout the region where Diageo in 2006 partnered with a Chinese company to produce a locally branded white spirit, Swellfun, aka Shui Jing Fang. At least, that’s what outside observers are second-guessing.

The sale of Tia Maria together with other disposals necessitated by the EUR 5 billion-acquisition of Sweden’s Vin & Sprit (Absolut) in July 2008 enable Pernod Ricard to continue its debt reduction programme.

Last year Krones registered record sales of EUR 2.4 billion and profits of EUR 107 million.

Only weeks after Diageo announced its redundancy plans, whisky producer Whyte & Mackay confirmed that it intends to cut dozens of jobs at sites across Scotland.

In the beginning, there was one blue-and-silver can and it promised energy and vitality. And when its creator saw that it was good he named it Red Bull. That was in 1996 and he kick-started a whole new beverage category, called “energy drinks”.

Volumes in the Russian beverage can market have reduced significantly owing to the effects of the global economic recession. As Rexam’s strategy has always been, and continues to be, to match its capacity to market requirements, ceasing production at the plant was seen as the logical decision.

Diageo’s latest announcement (1 July 2009) as concerns their restructuring programme makes dispiriting reading: 700 jobs lost at Kilmarnock packaging plant; 140 jobs lost at the 200-year-old Port Dundas Distillery and Dundashill cooperage in Glasgow; 30 jobs lost at Shieldhall packaging plant; 80 office jobs at Dundas House transferred; 40 staff transferred from Carsebridge to Cambus sites; 64 warehouse jobs at Hurlford transferred out; 36 remaining Hurlford jobs relocated; 16 jobs in Speyside transferred out.

Usually, shareholders’ agreements are among the best kept secrets. That such a significant detail of AB-InBev’s agreement was leaked to the press can mean only one thing: someone bore a grudge and that’s usually the losers.

The bottom line is that Dr Weber will have made a profit selling and buying back the stake in his brewery. But it cannot have been to his liking that for years his venture with BHI has monopolised conversations at German brewers’ reunions.