Germany: Inbev may become number one beer producer in Germany by purchasing more breweries in the country. That was the announcement made by CEO John Brock to WirtschaftsWoche magazine. He said: "If we find a strong brand that suits us, I will not rule out another acquisition.”

Brock said the new brewing conglomerate born out of the merger between Interbrew SA and Brazil's Ambev aims to catch up with its US competitor Anheuser-Busch in terms of efficiency, AFX News said on September 15. "I see no reason why we cannot reach return on sales of 28 or even 30 pct over the next few years," he added. Inbev may find a second location to brew its Bremen-based premium brand Becks, possibly in Bavaria, he told the magazine.

18 September, 2004