Beer Radar

Business Week picks up on a theme I explored two weeks ago on the InBev acquisition of Anheuser-Busch. While many in the U.S. are in an uproar about the so-called loss of American institution, it’s important to remember that A-B is not just an American corporation. It’s a world player with investments around the globe.

Thus, while InBev obviously wanted the Bud brands in its portfolio, it was also undoubtedly eyeing A-B’s overseas business. Especially in China, the world’s largest beer consumer.

Before the merger, according to BW, InBev had been lagging as the No. 5 brewer in China. It was faring so poorly, it couldn’t even work up a sponsorship in next month’s Olympic games. By acquiring A-B, - which, in addition to its own Chinese breweries, also owns the giant Harbin brewery plus a 27% stake in Tsingtao - InBev leaps to top of the pile.

Coming soon: Bud Red - it’s Budweiser, now with even more rice.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 15th, 2008 at 9:18 am and is filed under Beer etc.. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.