Snub for SABMiller in China battle

THE battle between the world's two biggest brewers for China's Harbin Brewery took a fresh twist today after the Shanghai-based company's chief executive laid into former partner SABMiller.

SAB is set for a bitter £308m takeover battle with US giant Anheuser-Busch, which brews Budweiser. Today's statements from Peter Lo highlighted the extent of the breakdown in Harbin's relationship with SAB.

'We had hoped the tie-up would boost our brand and improve technology and sales but in the past 10 months, nothing has happened,' he said.

Anheuser already sells Budweiser in China and moved into position over the weekend by buying a 29% stake in Harbin. SAB has a 29.4% stake.

Lo said: 'We believe, if you run a company in China, local management is important. Without the support of Harbin's management and staff, how can SABMiller run Harbin, even if it holds a majority stake?'

SAB mounted a hostile bid after twice failing to buy a further 29% put on sale by Harbin city government, but believes it is in pole position, given the potential savings it could make combining Harbin with China Resources Breweries, of which it owns 49%.