COMPANY COMMENT
Would AB InBev sell off a portion of its Asian business?
Meanwhile, the mining industry should think about stepping up to the plate and ’fessing up about possible corruption in high places
It’s difficult to know what to make of the recent speculation that AB InBev might consider selling off a portion of its Asian business after separately listing it. Is this just the world’s largest beer group trying to test the market to see what could be done to reclaim some of its allure? For a company that spent almost three decades acquiring its way to the top position in the global beer market it seems a tad bizarre to imagine that having secured such a position, by a hefty margin, it might now contemplate unraveling it. The reports caused a flutter of excitement in the analyst community and helped lift the share price, which has been drifting steadily downwards since 2016 when it finalised the $107bn SABMiller acquisition. The group’s dramatic rise from relative Brazilian obscurity to global household name was largely down to the deal-making genius of private investment firm 3G Capital. Jorge Lemann, who led the private equity firm, realised early on that beer offered the best...
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