Chinese brewer Tsingtao to transfer A-B stake to InBev
Tsingtao Brewing Co., one of China’s largest brewers, agreed that the 27 percent stake in the company that is currently held by Anheuser-Busch Cos. will transfer to InBev of Belgium when InBev finalizes its proposed takeover of Anheuser-Busch. A short notice about the agreement was filed today with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
InBev hopes to take over St. Louis-based Anheuser-Busch by the end of the year in a $52 billion buyout. The Tsingtao deal would give the combined company — Anheuser-Busch InBev — control of roughly one-fifth of the Chinese beer market, the world’s largest.
Anheuser-Busch said it first invested in China in 1993, when the company acquired a minority stake in Tsingtao cash advance in one hour. In October 2002, Anheuser-Busch and Tsingtao formed a strategic alliance to share best practices in areas such as production technology, marketing, sales and management. In 2005, Anheuser-Busch increased its investment in Tsingtao to 27 percent.
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