Japan: Asahi set to bid for SABMiller’s Eastern Europe brands – reports

Japanese beverage giant Asahi is set to table a bid in the order of ¥500 billion ($4.87 billion) to acquire brewer SABMiller’s assets in eastern Europe, according to reports in Nikkei and Beverage Daily.

The brands to be sold include Pilsner Urquell in Czech Republic, Tyskie and Lech in Poland, Dreher in Hungary, Topvar in Slovakia and Ursus in Romania.

In April 2016, Asahi also agreed a deal to purchase SABMiller’s European brands Peroni, Grolsch and Meantime for €2.55 billion ($2.9 billion). According to Nikkei, a successful bid by Asahi would result in the biggest-ever beer acquisition by a Japanese brewer.

Previous reports had suggested that China Resources, the firm behind beer brand China Snow, was also mulling a bid for the assets.

Source: Nikkei / Beverage Daily