TOKYO — Japan’s brewer Asahi Group plans to offer more than $4.87bn for British SABMiller’s beer operations in five Eastern European countries, a report on Wednesday showed.The Japanese brewer had previously bought the Peroni, Grolsch and Meantime brands from Anheuser-Busch (AB) InBev, the world’s top brewer, as it aims to solidify its footing in Europe. The news comes as Belgium-based AB InBev is to buy out Britain’s SABMiller in a blockbuster deal that will see AB InBev become the beer industry’s global leader.As part of the deal, the EU has demanded the brewer divest SABMiller’s business in the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia.AB InBev was also forced to release its Italian, Dutch and UK line-up to ease competition concerns and win approval from regulators.The Nikkei newspaper said AB InBev planned to open bidding for the British brewer’s East European operations after the Monday completion of the deal. SABMiller enjoyed the largest market share in all of the...
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