Five Bidders Eye Bulgaria Kamenitza, AB InBev Breweries

Anheuser-Busch InBev decided to sell its central European operations considered as fragmented and non-strategic. Photo by EPA/BGNES

Five private equity firms have expressed interest in acquiring brewing assets held by Anheuser-Busch InBev in Central and Eastern Europe, according to reports.

The potential bidders are believed to be Cinven, Warburg Pincus, CVC Capital Partners, TPG and KKR.

On Wednesday, The Wall Street Journal cited "people familiar with the matter" as saying that private equity firms, , including Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. (KKR), CVC Partners and Texas Pacific Group (TPG), have expressed interest in buying AB-InBev's CEE operations.

The deal is potentially worth more than USD 2.5 B, the paper said.

Bulgaria is one of seven countries in Eastern and Central Europe, where the world's largest brewer Anheuser-Busch InBev (ABI.BR) is considering divesting its operations.

Eleven breweries producing a total of 15 million hectoliters of beer a year in Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Croatia, Czech Republic, Serbia and Montenegro, are part of what has been called a "packaged" deal to be sold as a whole.

Kamenitza AD, part of Interbrew, which was renamed to InBev after the merger of Interbrew and AmBev. is the second biggest brewery in Bulgaria. Its diverse brand portfolio includes international Stella Artois and Becks and local Kamenitza, AstikA, Burgasko , Pleven, Slavena.

 

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