Foster's Group considers wine acquisitions

Foster's Group Ltd, Australia's biggest brewer and winemaker, is considering as many as nine acquisitions, mostly overseas, to expand its wine unit, Chief Executive Officer Ted Kunkel said.

"There are probably eight or nine bolt-on opportunities on the drawing board" for wine-company purchases worldwide, Kunkel told Channel Nine's Business Sunday television program. "You will see our expansion basically outside of Australia.'' Declining beer sales and a lack of takeover targets at home are prompting Foster's and its rivals to seek growth in overseas wine purchases. Lion Nathan, Australia's second-biggest brewer, said it's buying New Zealand's Wither Hills winery for US$24.4 million.

Australia's consumption fell for a second year in the year ending June 30, while wine exports climbed 24 percent to a record. Kunkel's strategy of expanding into wine lifted profit 20 percent in the six months ended June 30 and helped the company's wine sales overtake beer sales for the first time.

Kunkel Foster's, whose shares rose 9 percent in August, may consider acquisitions of less than A$100 million each to use the increasing cash flow it's generating.