Time, please

8 September 2010 By Alexander Smith

SAB looks best placed to bid for its struggling Australian rival, and private equity has emerged as an eager buyer for the unwanted wine division. Shares in Foster’s may already be pumped up. But SAB could justify offering a small premium. It shouldn’t let the chance pass.

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The Australian beer and wine group Foster's has rejected a private offer worth up to $2.5 billion for its wine business, the world's second largest. Foster's is in the process of splitting its wine assets, which have cost it billions of dollars in writeoffs, from its lucrative beer business. Shares in Foster's closed 4.5 percent higher at A$6.34 on hopes of other bids emerging.

In late August, Reuters reported that the world's secondlargest brewer, SABMiller, and Japan's Asahi Breweries were both looking at Foster's beer operations.

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