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the world's largest brewer says it will pay 5-point-8 billion u.s. dollars to re-buy korea's
leading beer company ob. market watchers expect the buyout to further
intensify competition in the local market .
connie kim reports. belgian-brazilian multinational brewer anheuser-busch inbev has bought back
korea's top selling beer brand oriental brewery from kkr and affinity equity partners as it
moves to boost sales in the asia pacific region .
ab inbev announced monday that it struck a five-point-eight billion u.s. dollar deal
with kkr and affinity buying ob back for three times more than the one-point-eight billion
dollars it sold it for in 2009. the huge outlay is seen as a reasonable price
for ab inbev as ob once the second leading beer brand in korea now accounts for more
than 60-percent of total beer sales in the nation.
the world's leading brewer said korea is an attractive beer market with strong potential
to grow given that the korean beer market grows at an annual 2 percent growth rate.
analysts said ab inbev is looking for markets that grow faster than its existing u.s. and
brazil market. they say the purchase of ob with top-selling
lager cass could mark the start of a big push into the asia pacific market including china
. competition in the local beer market is expected
to intensify with ab inbev's import beer brands and korea's conglomerate lotte group also
joining the race. connie kim arirang news.