SABMiller Tipped for Indian Victory

SAB Miller is being tipped to win the auction for a 51% stake in Indian brewer Mohan Meakin’s beer business. The Mohan Meakin brewery business is the third-largest in the country, with an 8% share of the 100 million cases per year market. A stake in the beer business will automatically give any global beer major an easy entry and readymade distribution and bottling network, which is otherwise difficult to create from the grassroots level.

SAB Miller, which recently acquired Grupo Empresarial Bavaria, of Colombia, for $7.8 billion, is understood to be up against InBev, the Belgian owner of Stella Artois, and possibly Heineken in the final round of bidding. But despite the strong interest from rival bidders, SABMiller is being tipped as the likeliest purchaser, as it has a bottling agreement with the company. Carlsberg, of Denmark, is said to have dropped out at an earlier stage. The Indian beer market is growing at about 6 to 7 per cent annually, although SABMiller claims that its own business is growing at about 12 per cent.