This round is mine
Multinationals are starting to fight over Chinese assets
EVEN the biggest barrel runs out of beer. Even the biggest country runs out of breweries—at least from the point of view of thirsty international beermakers. On May 5th, SABMiller, the world's second-largest brewer, launched an unsolicited HK$4.3 billion ($550m) bid for control of Harbin Brewery, China's fourth-biggest brewer. Britain-based SAB was forced into this rare show of hostility—foreigners normally use friendly deals to invest in China—by its bigger American rival, Anheuser-Busch. Anheuser last week agreed to buy a 29% stake in Hong Kong-listed Harbin, a firm that SAB thought it had all stitched up via its own 29.6% holding, acquired in 2003.
This article appeared in the Business section of the print edition under the headline “This round is mine”
From the May 8th 2004 edition
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