AB InBev gets binding offer from Asahi for European Union ops

Asahi is Japan’s biggest brewer with a 38% market share but is seeking growth outside Japan where a shrinking population and the increasing popularity of wine have weighed on beer sales over the past two decades.

The beer brewer confirmed today that it had offered to buy SABMiller’s Peroni, Grolsch and Meantime brands for ‎€2.55billion euros (£1.98billion).

The brewer had finalised its bid at a board meeting on Tuesday, and was now in discussion with SABMiller, Japanese daily paper Nikkei reported on Wednesday.

The brands, which are now part of the SABMiller portfolio, have to be sold to allow the firm’s takeover by rival Anheuser-Busch InBev.

A group of Chinese firms have made a cash offer for Opera Software, valuing the Norwegian mobile phone internet browser and advertising company at 10.5 billion crowns, or $1.23 billion, the 20-year-old company said.

Hikma Pharmaceuticals said it would pay $535 million less than its earlier offer to buy Boehringer Ingelheim’s USA generic drugs business after due diligence revealed that the unit’s 2015 revenue would be lower than previously expected. The purchase would be the largest involving a Japanese-listed beermaker since Kirin Holdings Co’s $2.5 billion acquisition of Australia’s Lion Nathan in 2009, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.