Bloomberg: Asahi Group, KKR Among Bidders For SABMiller's European Beer Brands

(RTTNews) - Japanese brewer Asahi Group Holdings Ltd (ASBRF.PK) and investment firm KKR & Co. L.P. (KKR) are among the companies considering bids for British brewer SABMiller Plc's (SAB.L, SBMRY.PK) European beer brands, Bloomberg reported Tuesday, citing people familiar with the matter.

The sale of the beer brands are said to be part of SABMiller's merger deal with Belgian brewer Anheuser-Busch InBev NV, known as AB InBev (BUD, AHBIF.PK), and would include the Peroni and Grolsch brands.

According to the Bloomberg report, the talks are at an early stage, while bids are due in January. A sale of SABMiller assets would help to facilitate the company's merger with AB InBev, in what would be a merger of the world's two biggest brewers.

Spanish beermaker Mahou-San Miguel Group and Cinven are also said to be interested in SABMiller's European beer brands. AB InBev is also selling assets to stave off potential regulatory issues for the merger.

In mid-October, AB InBev said it has raised its takeover bid for SABMiller to 43.50 pounds per share in cash, or $66.8 per share. The new offer is said to value SABMiller at above $100 billion.

SBMRY closed Tuesday's trading at $60.37, down $0.03 or 0.05 percent on a volume of 97,136 shares.