Later this week, Anheuser-Busch InBev will release its results for 2017. Here, just-drinks looks back the events that will have shaped the brewers in its fourth quarter, the three months to the end of December.
- The final quarter started with a spot of housekeeping: Having inherited SABMiller’s stake in the Coca-Cola Beverages Africa venture, A-B InBev completed the transition of the 54.5% holding to The Coca-Cola Co at the start of October. The transaction was worth US$3.15bn and sees Coca-Cola put some distance between itself and the brewing giant amid recent speculation suggesting a move for the former by the latter
- A couple of weeks later, and A-B InBev was dealing with a strike at three of its breweries in Belgium. Workers at the Leuven, Hoegaarden and Jupille facilities walked out in a dispute over pay
- Unlikely to move the needle at the brewing giant is the launch in mid-October of a takeover attempt by The Brewers Association. In an attempt to raise the estimated US$213bn to fund the acquisition, the trade association set up a crowdfunding page. The current total raised? US$3.8m. Oh well
- In the group’s post-results conference call towards the end of the month, CEO Carlos Brito highlighted the growing trend towards wheat beer among consumers in Asia. “I was [in South Korea] some months ago, and it is amazing,” he said. “You go out at night and you see tables with women going out together and they’re all drinking Hoegaarden.”
- Here in the UK, the brewer brought parity to the abv of Budweiser across all the brand’s packaged formats and draught. Instead of a range of 4.8% to 4.3%, all versions of Budweiser are now 4.5%
- Mid-November, and a switch of regional president in North America was unveiled. The departure of Joao Castro – scheduled for the start of this year – resulted in Michel Doukeris assume a regional presidency for the second time. Doukeris had moved up from head of Asia-Pacific at the start of 2017 to become group chief sales officer
- Towards the end of the month, construction started on a new brewery in Nigeria, with US$250m set to be invested in the facility. Situated just outside Lagos, production is expected to commence in May this year
- A week later, and a similar move was lined up for Mexico. An eighth A-B InBev brewery in the country is in the pipeline, this time at a cost of US$800m. Expect the beer to start flowing at the start of 2019
- As the end of the year approached, the group’s Australian unit joined the craft beer pile-on. For an undisclosed sum, A-B InBev Australia snapped up Adelaide-based Pirate Life at the start of December. A sum of AUD10m (US$7.6m) has been ringfenced to build the craft brewer a larger facility
- In the same week, the Brazilian unit, AmBev, readied an increase in its holding in the Dominican Republic’s beer market leader, Cervecería Nacional Dominicana. A US$926.5m outlay will see AmBev up its stake from 55% to 85%
- Analyst speculation – the best kind of speculation – flagged in mid-December the growing likelihood of A-B InBev taking all-out control at Craft Brew Alliance. With a 31.6% stake already, SIG’s Pablo Zuanic mooted with “increased conviction” a potential move. A purchase by August this year would save A-B InBev, which has an option to buy CBA before August 2019, in the region of US$25m, Zuanic wrote
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