AB InBev could sell Russian & Ukrainian subsidiaries

Anheuser-Busch InBev, the world’s largest brewer, could sell its Russian and Ukrainian units, according to analysts interviewed by the Financial Times. The FT article indicated that the sale could help InBev to raise cash to pay down debt and focus on its more profitable American beer brands. AB InBev, through Sun InBev, controls 96% of Sun InBev Ukraine (SUNI). Andriy Gostik: Should InBev, #1 in Ukraine with a 39% market share, decide to dispose of its Ukrainian brewery assets (production plants in Mykolaiv, Chernihiv, Kharkiv), likely buyers could be such international players as Heineken, Efes or SABMiller. Neither Heineken nor Efes currently own production facilities in Ukraine, while SABMiller, who last year acquired Donetsk-based Sarmat brewery and became the fifth largest player in Ukraine, may be looking to increase its market share at cost of leading InBev.