Report : Asahi To Bid Over $4.8 Bln For SABMiller's Eastern Europe Business

(RTTNews) - Tokyo-based brewer Asahi Group Holdings plans to offer more than 500 billion yen or $4.87 billion for British brewer SABMiller's (SBMRY.PK, SAB.L) beer operations in five Eastern European countries, Nikkei reported.

Anheuser-Busch InBev will acquire SABMiller next week. Both companies are reassessing global operations ahead of the deal. AB InBev plans to open bidding shortly for SABMiller's beer operations in the Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary, Slovakia and Romania. Other bidders could include Asian brewers and European investment funds. The goal is to have an agreement in place by spring.

The Japanese brewer is already set to buy brands including Italy's Peroni from SABMiller for $2.84 billion as part of the deal with AB InBev.