Anheuser-Busch InBev (NYSE:BUD) may make a bid for a large brewery in China, said a report in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch on Friday. Kingway Brewery Holdings, located in Guandong Province in southern China, is thinking of selling itself later this year, and Anheuser-Busch InBev is one of three major breweries to show interest.

The other interested parties are China-based Tsingtao Brewery Co., and China Resources Enterprise Limited Co. China Resources makes China’s top-selling beer, Snow, in a joint venture with SAB Miller. Anheuser-Busch outbid SAB Miller in 2004 to buy a stake in Harbin Brewery Co., a large brewery in northeast China.

According to the report, Anheuser-Busch InBev has been focusing much of its energy on growth in developing markets and no doubt sees the Chinese beer market — the world’s largest – as an excellent prospect. The company held about 11 percent of the beer market in China in 2010.

Kingway has market capitalization of about $550 million, said the Post-Dispatch, quoting a Dow Jones report. Bids for the brewery are due later this month, said the report, with a decision not expected for another six to eight weeks after that.

Here’s how shares of BUD are trading now:

Anheuser-Busch InBev (NYSE:BUD): BUD shares recently traded at $64.14, down $1.11, or 1.7%. They have traded in a 52-week range of $49.05 to $65.31. Volume today was 661,757 shares versus a 3-month average volume of 1,170,260 shares. The company’s trailing P/E is 20.80, while trailing earnings are $3.08 per share.

To contact the reporter on this story: Gina Smith at staff.writers@wallstcheatsheet.com

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Damien Hoffman at editors@wallstcheatsheet.com

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