Anheuser-Busch Cos, the world's biggest beermaker, entered a bidding contest with SABMiller Plc for Harbin Brewery Group in the first takeover battle by overseas investors for a company in China.
Anheuser-Busch bought a 7 percent stake in Harbin Brewery from Capital Group Cos for HK$388.2 million (US$50 million) at a price 30 percent more than last week's takeover bid by SABMiller.
Anheuser-Busch must make a general offer now because its holding exceeds 30 percent, said Ernest Lau, spokesman for the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission.
The two companies are competing for a share of a US$6 billion market that Harbin Brewery forecasts will grow 6 percent a year this decade, as Chinese incomes rise. Interbrew SA, Heineken NV and other overseas brewers have formed partnerships with Chinese beermakers as consumption slows in the US and Europe.
"Generally, they are looking to establish their market presence in China," said Richard Wong, a fund manager at HSBC Asset Management. "This reflects the growing importance of China as a consumer market. With per capita wealth increasing 10 percent a year, China will be an attractive market, and it is important to enter as early as possible."
The takeover offer by Anheuser-Busch for all the Harbin Brewery shares it doesn't already own must be "made as soon as possible," Lau said.
St. Louis-based Anheuser-Busch raised its stake in China's largest brewer to 36 percent by buying 69.6 million shares at HK$5.58 each from Capital Group, the third-largest US mutual fund. That exceeds the 29.4 percent stake held by London-based SABMiller, the world's second-largest brewer.
"We've obviously noted it, and we expect to issue a statement shortly," SABMiller spokeswoman Sue Clark said.
SABMiller last week offered HK$3.04 billion, or US$4.30 a share, for the shares it doesn't already own.
The beer battle began on May 2, when Anheuser-Busch announced that it bought a 29 percent stake in Harbin Brewery for HK$1.08 billion. It beat out SABMiller, which had been hoping to double its holding in the brewer by buying the same stake from the Harbin city government.
SABMiller responded by announcing a general offer for the Chinese beermaker three days later. Harbin Brewery shares have since traded above SABMiller's offer price, as investors bet on a counterbid from Anheuser Busch. The stock, which halted trading today, rose 58 percent in May.
The Chinese brewer, which makes Harbin and Hapi beers, asked shareholders to reject SABMiller's offer and hired CLSA Ltd, the Asian investment-banking unit of France's biggest bank, as its financial adviser. SABMiller is being advised by ABN Amro Holding NV and Anglo-Chinese Corporate Finance Ltd.
China's 1.3 billion people consume an average 19 liters of beer a year, compared with 39 liters in South Korea, 53 in Japan and 80 in Australia, according Australian brewer Lion Nathan Ltd.
China was the biggest producer of beer in the world the past two years, surpassing the US, the China Securities Journal reported on March 10.
The CIA has a message for Chinese government officials worried about their place in Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) government: Come work with us. The agency released two Mandarin-language videos on social media on Thursday inviting disgruntled officials to contact the CIA. The recruitment videos posted on YouTube and X racked up more than 5 million views combined in their first day. The outreach comes as CIA Director John Ratcliffe has vowed to boost the agency’s use of intelligence from human sources and its focus on China, which has recently targeted US officials with its own espionage operations. The videos are “aimed at
STEADFAST FRIEND: The bills encourage increased Taiwan-US engagement and address China’s distortion of UN Resolution 2758 to isolate Taiwan internationally The Presidential Office yesterday thanked the US House of Representatives for unanimously passing two Taiwan-related bills highlighting its solid support for Taiwan’s democracy and global participation, and for deepening bilateral relations. One of the bills, the Taiwan Assurance Implementation Act, requires the US Department of State to periodically review its guidelines for engagement with Taiwan, and report to the US Congress on the guidelines and plans to lift self-imposed limitations on US-Taiwan engagement. The other bill is the Taiwan International Solidarity Act, which clarifies that UN Resolution 2758 does not address the issue of the representation of Taiwan or its people in
SHIFT: Taiwan’s better-than-expected first-quarter GDP and signs of weakness in the US have driven global capital back to emerging markets, the central bank head said The central bank yesterday blamed market speculation for the steep rise in the local currency, and urged exporters and financial institutions to stay calm and stop panic sell-offs to avoid hurting their own profitability. The nation’s top monetary policymaker said that it would step in, if necessary, to maintain order and stability in the foreign exchange market. The remarks came as the NT dollar yesterday closed up NT$0.919 to NT$30.145 against the US dollar in Taipei trading, after rising as high as NT$29.59 in intraday trading. The local currency has surged 5.85 percent against the greenback over the past two sessions, central
US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo on Friday expressed concern over the rate at which China is diversifying its military exercises, the Financial Times (FT) reported on Saturday. “The rates of change on the depth and breadth of their exercises is the one non-linear effect that I’ve seen in the last year that wakes me up at night or keeps me up at night,” Paparo was quoted by FT as saying while attending the annual Sedona Forum at the McCain Institute in Arizona. Paparo also expressed concern over the speed with which China was expanding its military. While the US
RSS