Harbin Brewery has reiterated its preference for the bid from Anheuser-Busch over SABMiller's. In a notice issued to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, Harbin Brewery Group urged shareholders to shun SABMiller's rival bid. "The board announces that it fully supports the Anheuser-Busch offer and warmly welcomes Anheuser-Busch becoming a strategic partner of the company," the Chinese brewer said in the statement.

Anheuser-Busch announced on June 01 a mandatory general offer for Harbin Brewery at a price of HK$5.58 per share, a premium of nearly 30% over SABMiller's competing offer, made last week, of HK$4.30 per share. Since the fight for control of Harbin broke out between SABMiller and AB last month, the board of Harbin has made no secret of its preference. Once AB had bought a 29% stake in Harbin, matching SABMiller's holding in the Chinese brewer, Harbin's CEO Peter Lo said: "Since we signed the strategic investor agreement with SABMiller last June, SABMiller has done nothing good for us."

04 June, 2004