Brewing industry bids, like a pint of beer, tend to produce plenty of froth. While InBev’s interest in bidding for Anheuser-Busch, first mooted well over a year ago, finally looks serious, the suggestion that the Stella Artois owner is eyeing SABMiller as an alternative target looks improbable.

Given the huge amount of consolidation that has taken place among brewers in recent years, it is no surprise that the industry’s giants are now mulling the next round. It is an industry where everyone talks to everyone.

But the rationale of an InBev move on Anheuser-Busch looks more compelling than a bid for SABMiller. Given Anheuser-Busch’s focus on America, where it derives 85 per cent of its revenues, a merger with the far more global InBev – itself created from the combination of Interbrew of Belgium and Brazil’s AmBev - would create little or no overlap from an antitrust perspective. Although an InBev/SABMiller merger would dovetail nicely in South America, the Czech Republic and Hungary would present regulatory problems. But there would be an even more serious headache: a clash of cultures.

InBev, like Anheuser-Busch, tends to pursue a price-driven growth strategy rather than one based on brand building. That is not to say that InBev does not have strong brands, but – as can be seen from its Stella pricing in the UK – its preference appears to be to grab market share through price cutting.

Conversely, there are few bars in the West End of London where you can buy SABMiller’s Peroni Nastro Azzurro for less than £4 a pint.

One thing is for sure: if InBev were to turn its aim on SABMilller, its offer would also have to be pitched at a premium price.

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