AB InBev has announced that it will sell its Australian subsidiary Carlton & United Breweries to Tokyo-headquartered Asahi in a deal valued at $11.3 billion.
The deal was announced just days after AB InBev pulled plans to list its Asia business on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in an IPO that could have raised as much as $9.8 billion.
The global brewing giant has been on an acquisition run over several years including two acquisitions already this year, purchasing San Diego-based Cutwater Spirits and Israeli beverage analytics firm WeissBeerger. The acquisitions have run up a monster debt of about $100 billion and the company, with annual revenue of about $54 billion, has reportedly said it hopes to cut that heavy debt load down to $80 billion.
The deal is subject to closing conditions and regulatory approval, and if given the go ahead, is expected to be completed by the first quarter of 2020. More details here.