LONDON - Anheuser-Busch InBev said Monday that it would repurchase Oriental Brewery in a deal valued at $5.8 billion nearly five years after it sold the South Korean brewer to the private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts.
The deal expands AB InBev’s international footprint and marks its return to the fast-growing Asia Pacific region, a market it largely abandoned following the Oriental Brewery sale in July 2009.
The brewery was sold to K.K.R. for $1.8 billion in cash and debt as AB InBev engaged in a series of asset sales to reduce its debt following a 2008 merger that created the world’s largest beer maker. Shortly after the purchase, K.K.R. sold half of the company to Affinity Equity Partners, a buyout firm specializing in investments in the Asia-Pacific region.
The deal comes just a week after Suntory of Japan agreed to pay $13.6 billion to buy Beam Inc., the maker of Jim Beam and Maker’s Mark whiskeys.
Oriental Brewery “will strengthen our position in the fast-growing Asia Pacific region and will become a significant contributor to our Asia Pacific Zone,†Carlos Brito, the AB InBev chief executive, said.
AB InBev had an option under the terms of the original sale to reacquire Oriental Brewery by July 2014.
The deal is subject to regulatory approval in South Korea and is expected to close in the first half of 2014.
Oriental Brewery is the largest South Korean brewer and had an exclusive license to distribute AB InBev brands, including Budweiser and Corona, in South Korea.
“The success experienced since 2009 is a testament to all the employees of OB, and we are gratified to have invested in the company and supported the company’s growth as well as their environmental and citizenship initiatives,†Joseph Y. Bae, managing partner of K.K.R. Asia, and Kok Yew Tang, Affinity’s chairman and managing partner, said in a statement.
Beer sales in South Korea are expected to grow by more than 13 percent from 2012 to 2022, the companies said.
Oriental Brewery will continue to be led by its chief executive, In-soo Chang, following the deal.
Lazard and Deutsche Bank served as advisers to AB InBev.
