SABMiller They’re only here for the beer
The Big Feller has sold its R7.6billion stake in Tsogo Sun, SA’s biggest hotel and gambling outfit, in order to focus on the core business of raking in the green stuff by shifting bucketloads of the amber stuff. Specifically on this grand old continent we like to call home, where SAB likes its prospects. Africa has a continental GDP of 5-6%, leaving plenty extra for the finer things in life, and a young population which has yet to borrow its older brother’s ID and head down to the tavern. On the downside, competition, like the charismatic megafauna for which the continent is known, abounds. So for example, when SAB heads to Nigeria, it’s up against the likes of Diageo, Heineken, and ahem, Castel.
Comment: Still, when you’re one of the big two in the world, and contemplating the prospects of a merger with Number One, the continent is pretty much your high-end mollusc.