China: China's domestic beer market is the largest in the world, and is being contested by the world's top brewing groups - InBev, the world's largest brewer by volume with such brands as Stella Artois, Anheuser-Busch, with Budweiser and other brands, and SABMiller, including Miller, Castle and others.

The race for ownership in China's domestic beer market has gathered pace with the announcement on Monday that Belgian brewer InBev has bought a further 45% stake in Hunan Debier Brewery, buying out minority shareholder Changsha Baisha Brewery in a deal worth US$18.2 million. InBev bought majority stakes in several Chinese breweries, including Hunan Debier, from Malaysian conglomerate Lion Diversified Holdings for over $200 million earlier this year, propelling it to third place by production volume in the Chinese market.

SABMiller's Chinese joint venture, China Resources Breweries Limited (CRB), is the second largest brewer in China, and Tsingtao, with a 10% stake held by Anheuser-Busch, tops the list.

In September, CRB acquired the Chinese brewing interests of Lion Nathan for an equity value of US$71 million and estimated assumed debt of US$83 million, comprising three breweries in the Yangtze River Delta region close to Shanghai.

In May, SABMiller lost a bidding war for a controlling stake in Harbin Brewery, based in north-eastern China, to Anheuser-Busch. Already holding a 29% stake in Harbin, SABMiller subsequently sold this stake to Anheuser-Busch as well.

SABMiller shares were last quoted on the JSE Securities Exchange SA at 92.15 rand, up 0.93% or 85 cents from Friday's close of 91.30 rand, with 123,863 shares having changes hands in 231 trades so far over the morning.

09 November, 2004