Corporate Strategy Case Study

SABMILLER: Is Bavaria The Right Andean Fit?

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Abstract:
SABMiller, one of the world's leading breweries, in spite of maintaining its growth in the competitive environment, was facing a big challenge for sustaining it. The developed markets, where the company has a strong foothold, either turned saturated or were on the verge of saturation. Only the emerging markets were providing a growth opportunity for the breweries. But SABMiller either did not have a strong presence in these markets or failed to make its presence felt. Thus, the company looking for an inorganic growth opportunity, offered to buy Bavaria, an undisputed leader with more than 90% market shares in four Latin American countries - Colombia, Peru, Ecuador and Panama. These countries together were referred to as the Andean region. If SABMiller succeeded in acquiring Bavaria, then the company would get an access to a new and uncontested market, the Andean region. The case provides the scope for a quantitative analysis of pertinent information regarding the two companies and the beer market in the Andean region, to decide whether to acquire Bavaria or not.

Pedagogical Objectives:

Keywords : Global beverages; Merger rationales; Maximisation of shareholders wealth; Andean region; Latin American beer market; InBev; SABMiller growth strategy; Retail channel of Bavaria; Per capita consumption of beer