SABMiller PLC, the world's second biggest brewer, and its joint venture partner China Resources Enterprise Ltd. are planning to build a brewery at a cost of 680 million yuan ($82.3 million) that will tap the affluent market in southern China.
Construction will begin in November and the new brewery, to be located in Dongguan near Hong Kong, will begin operation in early 2006, China Resources said in a statement issued today.
London-based SABMiller, maker of Miller Lite, holds a 49 percent stake in China Resources Breweries, which is 51 percent owned by China Resources.
Foreign beer makers have been jostling for position in China, now the world's biggest beer market and one that is expected to continue expanding as incomes rise.
Earlier this summer, SABMiller lost a bidding war for a north China brewery, Harbin Brewery Group, by its larger rival Anheuser-Busch Cos. Inc. of St. Louis, maker of Budweiser. Source
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