Anheuser-Busch InBev NV has agreed to buy SABMiller Plc for about 68 billion pounds ($104 billion), raising its bid after several rejections, to clinch a record industry deal that will bring one out of every three beers sold worldwide under a single company.

The Budweiser maker will pay 44 pounds a share in cash for a majority of the shares in its nearest competitor, the companies said on Oct 13, gaining brands such as Peroni and Grolsch and giving it control of about half the industry's profit.

The price is 50 percent above SABMiller's closing value on Sept 14, the day before speculation of a deal surfaced.

"We think that this is good value for SAB," said Alicia Forry, an analyst at the Toronto-based financial services firm Canaccord Genuity.

"It's great that they've come to a point where the valuation is agreed, and we expect ABI in due course to make a firm offer."

Flying start for online retailer in Angola

Baobabay, a Chinese-funded e-commerce platform in Angola, has begun full operations, with more than 50 member shopping malls and 20,000 registered potential customers, its CEO Feng Tao said in Luanda. Feng attributed the quick development of Baobabay to the mushrooming number of Internet and mobile users in Angola.

International forum on Silk Road opens

More than 120 experts from 20 countries gathered at a forum in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, on Oct 12 to discuss the Silk Road, the ancient trade route between East Asia and Europe. The three-day forum was organized by the China National Silk Museum and attracted scholars of archaeology, linguistics, anthropology, ethnography and art history from home and abroad. At the conference, participants shared their latest research on Silk Road trade-related topics. Twenty global institutions announced the founding of the International Association for Study of Silk Road Textiles at the opening ceremony of the conference.

Sao Tome and China in pact for deep-sea port

Sao Tome and Principe has signed an agreement with China to build an $800-million deep-sea port in the small island state, the government said in a statement. The state-owned China Harbour Engineering Co will invest at least $120 million in the project and will be responsible for the engineering, design and construction of the port, the government of the former Portuguese colony in the Gulf of Guinea said in an e-mailed statement.

Photovoltaic industry subsidies to continue

Subsidies for China's photovoltaic industry will not stop in the next eight to 10 years, an official of the National Energy Administration told an industry summit on Oct 12. Liang Zhipeng, vice-director of the New Energy and Renewable Energy Department, said the industry will continue to receive government support, and that the government will focus on developing distributed photovoltaic products.

SingPost plans more warehouses in Europe

Singapore Post Ltd, in which Alibaba Group Holding Ltd is the second-biggest shareholder, plans to expand freight services and warehouses in the United States and Europe as Asia's emerging middle class drives online purchases from overseas. SingPost expects online transactions to jump in coming years, as the typical household in Southeast Asia now receives just two to three parcels a year on average, compared with about 30 in developed markets.

Ford Motor to put $1.8b in R D in China

Ford Motor Co will invest 11.4 billion yuan ($1.8 billion) to expand research and development in China, its chief executive Mark Fields said in Shanghai on Oct 12. Fields did not offer a timeframe or further details on how the money would be spent.

China Reinsurance gets $1.12b in commitments

China Reinsurance (Group) says it received commitments worth $1.12 billion from cornerstone investors, as the country's biggest reinsurer launched its initial public offering in Hong Kong on Oct 12, according to a term sheet of the deal. The 15 investors, which will be unable to sell shares in China Re until six months after the IPO, include Great Wall Pan Asia International Investment and State Grid Crop of China, each with $150 million, and China Development Bank with $110 million.

Eli Lilly expands pact as drug market grows

Eli Lilly Co is broadening an existing partnership with China-based Innovent Biologics Inc to tap rising demand for cancer drugs. The companies will collaborate to develop up to three cancer treatments both inside and outside China, according to a statement on Oct 12. Innovent could receive payments totaling more than $1 billion if the products reach certain milestones.

Evergrowing Bank profit up in Jan-Sept

The Evergrowing Bank, one of China's 12 national joint-stock commercial banks, said its profit surged 13.9 percent year-on-year to 11.8 billion yuan ($1.86 billion) in the first three quarters of this year. The bank's total assets stood at 1.01 trillion yuan by the end of September, up 19.2 percent year-on-year in the first nine months, the bank said. Its outstanding deposits and loans surged 25.9 percent and 25.3 percent to 616.5 billion yuan and 293.5 billion yuan respectively by the end of September.

Statistics to conform to IMF benchmark

The nation's official statistics will conform to the Special Data Dissemination Standards, a statistical system created by the International Monetary Fund, to improve transparency. With approval from the State Council, People's Bank of China Governor Zhou Xiaochuan informed IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde of China's decision, the central bank announced.

PBOC to sell $787m one-year bills in UK

The People's Bank of China, the central bank, plans to issue up to 5 billion yuan ($787 million) of one-year bills in London soon, the first such debt issued by the central bank, three sources with direct knowledge of the matter said. "The deal should be completed this month. ICBC and HSBC are the underwriters," the sources said.

Proven reserves of shale gas triple

The size of proven reserves of shale gas at the Fuling project, by far the country's largest shale gas find, have more than tripled, according to an official from Sinopec Corp and an industry report. The Jiaoshiba block of the project, in the municipality of Chongqing in southwest China, has 273.8 billion cubic meters of newly proven reserves, said the report carried on news.cnpc.com.cn, an industry portal run by the energy group CNPC.

Hospital reform plan gets 9.8b yuan subsidy

The nation will spend 9.8 billion yuan ($1.54 billion) to subsidize public hospital reform next year, the Ministry of Finance said. China is looking to overhaul its creaking national health care system. The nation will spend 11.1 billion yuan to subsidize the reform process this year.

China Daily

( China Daily Africa Weekly 10/16/2015 page18)