Dominic Walsh
SABMiller, the brewer behind Pilsner Urquell and Peroni Nastro Azzurro, has grabbed a bigger share of the fast-growing Chinese beer market by acquiring four more breweries for a total of $79 million (£40 million).
China Resources Snow Breweries, in which SABMiller has a 49 per cent stake, has bought controlling interests in two breweries in Liaoning province, one in Anhui and one in Hunan, in separate transactions.
The joint venture is already China’s biggest brewer, with more than 50 breweries. The latest additions, described as “infill acquisitions”, will lift Snow’s volumes by about five million hectolitres to almost 95 million hectolitres.
SABMiller has made no secret of its ambitions to build a greater presence in the country, where beer consumption has risen from 21.4 litres per head to 26.7 litres in the past three years. The total market grew from 280 million hectolitres in 2004 to 351 million in 2006.