Brewer's angry response to the bid from SABMiller sets the scene for a battle with Anheuser-Busch
The mainland brewery at the centre of an unprecedented tug-of-war between SABMiller and Anheuser-Busch has lashed out at an uninvited takeover bid, further escalating an already heated conflict between the world's two largest beer producers.
In a statement issued late last night, Hong Kong-listed Harbin Brewery - China's fourth-largest beer producer - castigated SABMiller's HK$4.30-a-share takeover offer as 'wholly unsolicited' and said it had been advanced 'without any prior discussions with the board'.
'[Harbin Brewery] considered that the offer was an unduly hasty response to the termination of the strategic investor agreement [with SABMiller],' it said. 'The board strongly encourages shareholders to take no action at this stage'.
The now-hostile takeover bid by South Africa-based SABMiller, which holds a 29.6 per cent stake in Harbin Brewery and has enjoyed a 'strategic' relationship with it since July last year, came two days after it emerged that United States rival and leading global producer Anheuser-Busch had pipped it in the race to secure an additional 29 per cent stake in the company.
The deal immediately transformed the two global beer giants into uneasy bedfellows in China's northeastern Heilongjiang province, where Harbin Brewery is based, and whetted investor expectations of a landmark and possibly lucrative takeover battle.