AB InBev sells subsidiary of Australia and maintains IPO in Asia on radar

BRUSSELS/London — Anheuser-Busch InBev, the world's largest brewery, is selling its Australian operations to the Japanese Asahi for 11 billion dollars and can revive the initial offer of shares of its Asian businesses to cut debts. The Belgian brewery, pressed by debt after the acquisition of the competitor SABMiller in 2016, said on Friday that he agreed to sell the Australian subsidiary Carlton & United Breweries (CUB) to a value of 11.3 billion dollars. The transaction takes place only one week after AB InBev canceled an initial public offering (IPO) to sell a 15% stake in its operations in Asia, including Australia, citing factors that include unfavorable market conditions. What would have been the biggest listing in the world this year, raising up to 9.8 billion dollars for AB InBev, turned out to be the third largest to be cancelled. Sources close to the subject said investors felt dissatisfied with the price. AB InBev said on Friday that it still believes in the logic of offering a minority share of Asian company Budweiser APAC, now excluding Australia, as long as it can be completed at the "correct price". Without Australia, a large but mature market, AB InBev's Asia-Pacific operations would be more targeted for faster growth markets, such as China, where AB InBev sells more Budweiser than in the United States.