Sabmiller Hostile Bid For Fosters

[DJR]

Hrm, so we'd only have Lion Nathan and SABMiller/Fosters making/importing megas. Wonder what would happen to CCA/Bluetongue and their little "agreement" with SABMiller to brew Peroni and import Urquell etc

http://www.smh.com.au/business/sabmiller-m...0817-1ixmn.html

International beverages giant SABMiller has made a hostile cash bid for Foster's Group, valuing the brewer at about $9.5 billion, before debt. With the company's debt added in, the value of the offer is about $11.2 billion.
SABMiller took the takeover offer, valued at $4.90 a Foster's share, directly to shareholders after the Melbourne-based brewer rejected its earlier bid.
Foster's had previously said the $4.90 offer was so low it was not worth discussing. Foster's shares ended the day at $4.96, up 3 cents for the day.


Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/business/sabmiller-m...l#ixzz1VHPtC4c1

 

[DJR]

Btw i think this is just another step in a very long and protracted takeover - wonder what will happen when the ACCC gets involved

 

[Bribie G]

In the Australian today Coca Cola have announced that if the deal goes through they'll sell their half of Pacific Beverages to SAB Miller, thus making WarnerVale a totally SAB Miller owned brewery. This would be most interesting considering that Fosters closed down Tooths in Sydney because of its massive real-estate value (plus do you really want a brewery on Broadway virtually in the CBD) and have had to truck all their VB etc into Sydney from Yatala or Abbotsford at ever increasing cost.

I betcha if the deal goes through then Warnervale will become a major VB / Pure Blonde etc brewery feeding into Sydney. Happened with Yatala (originally Powers Brewery) in Brisbane where Fosters sold their incredibly lucrative Site at Story Bridge as apartment site and decamped down the road to Yatala.

Interesting times ahead but maybe the end of Bluetongue?

 

[bigfridge]

In the Australian today Coca Cola have announced that if the deal goes through they'll sell their half of Pacific Beverages to SAB Miller, thus making WarnerVale a totally SAB Miller owned brewery. This would be most interesting considering that Fosters closed down Tooths in Sydney because of its massive real-estate value (plus do you really want a brewery on Broadway virtually in the CBD) and have had to truck all their VB etc into Sydney from Yatala or Abbotsford at ever increasing cost.

I betcha if the deal goes through then Warnervale will become a major VB / Pure Blonde etc brewery feeding into Sydney. Happened with Yatala (originally Powers Brewery) in Brisbane where Fosters sold their incredibly lucrative Site at Story Bridge as apartment site and decamped down the road to Yatala.

Interesting times ahead but maybe the end of Bluetongue?

Nah .... totally wrong interpretation, sorry.


The Coca Cola ownership change was announced months ago.

It is well documented in the press, (plus whispered by those who know) that you only have to look at what they are brewing at Warnervale now to see that the CUB takeover is a natural development. They have been a SAB brewery for years so not much will change.

 

[Thirsty Boy]

SAB takeover makes TB a sad fellow.

Without that warnervale brewery in the mix - i didn,t care really, the abbotsford brewery was still going to be needed for a fair few years yet.... With the warnervale brewery in the mix all sorts of possibilities come to mind about what SAB miller might like to do with a few hundred million dollars worth of prime inner melbourne riverside realestate... Other than brew beer on it.

Oh i'll probably still end up with a job when it all washes out - but where and for what sort of money?? Uncertain times!

 

[Bribie G]

That's what I was getting at - if you look at nearly every brewery in Australia apart from good old XXXX the progression seems to have been:

• Start the brewery in Victorian times at the city fringe
• City grows up around and engulfs the brewery
• Brewery site eventually becomes pure gold real estate
• Close the Brewery and move to a new greenfields site, funded mostly by selling the old site

Coopers Leabrook -> Regency Park
Swan Mt Eliza -> Canning Vale
CUB Fortitude Valley -> Yatala
Tooths simply closed leaving no facility in Sydney
Tooheys were similarly in the CBD but moved to Lidcombe a bit earlier than the others, but similar principle.

So CUB / Miller will now be handed that greenfields site at Warnervale for the Sydney Market "hole", hopefully not meaning the closure of the Abbotsford.

$10 says they'll be cranking out CUB brands by this time 2013 :icon_cheers:

 

[bigfridge]

That's what I was getting at - if you look at nearly every brewery in Australia apart from good old XXXX the progression seems to have been:

• Start the brewery in Victorian times at the city fringe
• City grows up around and engulfs the brewery
• Brewery site eventually becomes pure gold real estate
• Close the Brewery and move to a new greenfields site, funded mostly by selling the old site

Coopers Leabrook -> Regency Park
Swan Mt Eliza -> Canning Vale
CUB Fortitude Valley -> Yatala
Tooths simply closed leaving no facility in Sydney
Tooheys were similarly in the CBD but moved to Lidcombe a bit earlier than the others, but similar principle.

So CUB / Miller will now be handed that greenfields site at Warnervale for the Sydney Market "hole", hopefully not meaning the closure of the Abbotsford.

$10 says they'll be cranking out CUB brands by this time 2013 :icon_cheers:

My $10 says that it will be before then.

The Bluetongue brewery is flat out brewing all the Miller, Peroni and Grolsh brands as well as Bluetongue so there is not much capacity to do much VB. But it would seem to make good business to expand the plant to supply some of the CUB brands destined for NSW.

Interesting times indeed.

 

[Pennywise]

http://bigpondnews.com/articles/TopStories...011_664489.html

 

[[email protected]]

Interesting !!!

 

[DU99]

Well It's happend..
http://au.news.yahoo.com/world/a/-/world/1...-us-10-billion/

 

[MarkBastard]

So that means out two major breweries will be foreign owned right? Meaning it's Kirin and SABMiller.

I'm sort of glad if that's the case, it should remove any pre tense of 'real aussie beer' for the mega-swill brands, and there's a chance that these mega companies could take craft beer more seriously as well, if not it also doesn't matter.

I think have the duopoly being foreign owned is a better argument for having more relaxed micro-brew laws in Australia. We can now argue that micro-brew beers are unfairly forced to compete against mega international corporations that send their profit off shore etc.

 

[winkle]

So that means out two major breweries will be foreign owned right? Meaning it's Kirin and SABMiller.

I'm sort of glad if that's the case, it should remove any pre tense of 'real aussie beer' for the mega-swill brands, and there's a chance that these mega companies could take craft beer more seriously as well, if not it also doesn't matter.

I think have the duopoly being foreign owned is a better argument for having more relaxed micro-brew laws in Australia. We can now argue that micro-brew beers are unfairly forced to compete against mega international corporations that send their profit off shore etc.

At least Coles and Woolies don't own the big two <_<

 

[Thirsty Boy]

........I think have the duopoly being foreign owned is a better argument for having more relaxed micro-brew laws in Australia. We can now argue that micro-brew beers are unfairly forced to compete against mega international corporations that send their profit off shore etc.

Silver lining, I like it.

 

[argon]

So that means out two major breweries will be foreign owned right? Meaning it's Kirin and SABMiller.

I'm sort of glad if that's the case, it should remove any pre tense of 'real aussie beer' for the mega-swill brands, and there's a chance that these mega companies could take craft beer more seriously as well, if not it also doesn't matter.

I think have the duopoly being foreign owned is a better argument for having more relaxed micro-brew laws in Australia. We can now argue that micro-brew beers are unfairly forced to compete against mega international corporations that send their profit off shore etc.

yep... poorly timed vote yesterday

 

[Feldon]

yep... poorly timed vote yesterday

Yes very interesting.

Why did the Greens put a vote to the Senate y'day to improve tax/excise outcomes for craft brreweries the very day before the SAB Miller takeover is announced (which must have been known around the traps)?

And why was Barnaby Joyce on ABC radio in Melb this morning bemoaning the foreign SAB Miller takeover of Fosters Brewing when his own party voted against the Greens propsal yesterday which would have helped to stimulate homegrown beer makers?

 

[pimpsqueak]

Yes very interesting.

Why did the Greens put a vote to the Senate y'day to improve tax/excise outcomes for craft brreweries the very day before the SAB Miller takeover is announced (which must have been known around the traps)?

And why was Barnaby Joyce on ABC radio in Melb this morning bemoaning the foreign SAB Miller takeover of Fosters Brewing when his own party voted against the Greens propsal yesterday which would have helped to stimulate homegrown beer makers?

Because Barnaby Joyce is a dickhole.

 

[MarkBastard]

Because Barnaby Joyce is a dickhole.

Haha well said.

I think the two big Australian brewers are still working on a misguided good-will from consumers and politicians that they are Aussie icons. It would be unAustralian to talk trash about VB, Tooheys New or XXX. You'd risk upsetting a lot of Australians.

However with complete foreign ownership this good will that is protecting them will quickly erode. The marketing lie they portray will finally be too far stretched and I think at that point it will be easier to pass legislation to help out independent breweries.

One thing that's really weird is that the nationals don't see it as good for regional tourism, but I suppose I shouldn't be surprised either.

 

[Bribie G]

I wonder if SAB Miller will now pull the plug on Heineken who have the current rights to Fosters in the UK (where it is the biggest selling lager).

 

[Feldon]

There will now be the inevitable public back-lash run in the media over the next few days about Australia 'selling off the farm' to foreign companies. Had the Greens timed their Senate vote to assist Craft Brewers today or tomorrow, it would have more difficult for the other major parties to given a unanimous 'No' vote as they did yeasterday.

So did the Greens deliberately put it up yesterday knowing that it would get voted down - they can now say they tried to support a better excise deal for craft brewers without having to deal with the political consequences of supporting the alcohol industry (ie. questions to answer about domestic violence, road toll, CO2 emisions etc)

 

[MarkBastard]

There will now be the inevitable public back-lash run in the media over the next few days about Australia 'selling off the farm' to foreign companies. Had the Greens timed their Senate vote to assist Craft Brewers today or tomorrow, it would have more difficult for the other major parties to given a unanimous 'No' vote as they did yeasterday.

So did the Greens deliberately put it up yesterday knowing that it would get voted down - they can now say they tried to support a better excise deal for craft brewers without having to deal with the political consequences of supporting the alcohol industry (ie. questions to answer about domestic violence, road toll, CO2 emisions etc)

I'd say it's more likely that it's just bad timing. I can't imagine that it was seen as a big deal for any of the parties. There's probably heaps of things like this coming up every day.