Anheuser-Busch InBev is eyeing up StarBev, the owner of Czech lager Staropramen, for as much as $3 billion, according to The Wall Street Journal, writes Reuters. CVC Capital Partners has owned the brewer since buying it from AB InBev in December 2009.
Reuters – Anheuser-Busch InBev NV (ABI.BR) is weighing a potential acquisition of StarBev, the owner of Czech lager Staropramen, for as much as $3 billion, The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday.
CVC Capital Partners has owned the brewer since buying it from AB InBev in December 2009, the newspaper said in its online edition. CVC has gotten other takeover approaches for the business since late last year, the newspaper said, adding that the process may not lead to an imminent sale.
Other brewers expected to weigh an offer for the business include SABMiller PLC (SAB.L), Carlsberg A/S (CARLb.CO) and Heineken NV (HEIN.AS), as well as Molson Coors Brewing Co of the United States (TAP.N) and Japan’s Asahi, and other private-equity firms, the newspaper said.
Molson Coors and SABMiller declined to comment. Asahi, SABMiller, Carlsberg, Heineken and ABInBev could not be immediately reached for comment. StarBev also was not immediately available for comment.
AB InBev has a “right of first offer” on the business, the newspaper said.
Meanwhile, ABInBev and Tsingtao Brewery (600600.SS) are among several companies weighing an offer for the brewery operations of China’s Kingway Brewery Holdings Ltd (0124.HK), the newspaper said.
Tsingtao and Kingway were not immediately available for comment.
(Reporting By Jessica Hall, Martinne Geller; Editing by Gary Hill)
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