Five Bidders Into Second Round in Auction of SABMiller Eastern Europe Beer Brands
11 November 2016 - 8:38PM
Dow Jones News
By Ben Dummett
A group of five of bidders have made it to through to the second
round in the auction of the SABMiller's Eastern European beer
brands, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Each bidder is offering significantly more than EUR5 billion
($5.43 billion) for the assets that Anheuser-Busch InBev NV is
selling as part of its pact with European regulators to win
approval earlier this year for its acquisition of the London-based
brewer, the person said.
The second round bidders include Japan's Asahi Group Holdings
Ltd., a joint bid by private-equity firms Bain Capital and Advent
International, PPF Group, a financial investment group founded in
the Czech Republic, but currently domiciled in the Netherlands,
China Resources, and Zurich-based Jacobs Holding AG, which is
backed by PSP Investments, a Canadian pension fund, according to
the person familiar with the matter.
Bain declined to comment. Advent declined to comment. Asahi
couldn't immediately be reached for comment. PPF couldn't
immediately be reached for comment. China Resources couldn't
immediately be reached for comment. Jacobs didn't immediately
respond to a request for comment.
The successful groups were chosen from at least 10 different
offers, this person said. The strong interest in the beer brands is
evidence of the steady revenue and potential growth beer sales
offer because of the beverage's widespread popularity. Those that
didn't make it through to the second round included an offer from
CVC Capital Partners and another submitted by KKR & Co.,
another big private-equity firm, according to the person familiar
with the matter. CVC and KKR couldn't immediately be reached for
comment.
AB InBev is offering SABMiller's assets in Hungary, Romania,
Czech Republic, Slovakia and Poland, which include the rights to
Pilsner Urquell outside the U.S. and Polish beers Tyskie and Lech,
Hungarian beer Dreher, and Romanian beer brand Ursus. The Next
round of bids are due before Christmas.
Write to Ben Dummett at ben.dummett@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
November 11, 2016 15:23 ET (20:23 GMT)
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