E-Malt.com News article: 2946

Hong Kong: Anheuser-Busch, the world's largest brewer, announced on July 12 it now holds 99.66 % of China's Harbin Brewery Group Ltd. and plans to take the company private. The U.S. brewer, which made a $720 million bid for Harbin, said in a statement that it had received acceptances for 98.81 % of the shares in the offer, or 64.42 % of the Chinese firm's issued share capital.

The offer period has been extended until further notice to give shareholders who have yet to accept the offer more time to consider, the statement said.

Anheuser-Busch, which won a landmark takeover battle with arch-rival SABMiller for control of Harbin, said Harbin will apply to Hong Kong's stock exchange to delist its shares. Harbin shares have gained 41 % in the past three months on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. On Monday, Harbin Brewery closed at HK$5.50 (US$0.70) on the stock exchange, down HK$0.05 from the previous trading day.

London-based beer maker SABMiller, the world's second largest brewer in volume, had also tried to take over Harbin Brewery but withdrew from the tender process, saying the Chinese company was "not an essential asset at any price."

Anheuser-Busch is reportedly paying a fat $720 million for Harbin Brewery, which is among the top five brewers in China, where consumption has surged 40 percent sine 1997 and is expected to grow 6 percent a year for the near future, way above the 1 percent growth in the US market.

In addition to the 36 percent stake in Harbin Brewery, Anheuser-Busch holds a 9.9 percent share in Tsingtao Brewery Co., which plans to increase to 27 percent over the next several years.

Anheuser-Busch also owns 97 percent of the Budweiser Wuhan International Brewing Co. in Wuhan, China, which produces the Budweiser beer for the China market.


13 July, 2004