Foster's mystery wine suitor was Cerberus: source

Foster's, Australia's largest brewer, said earlier this week that it rejected a private equity offer worth up to $2.5 billion for its wine business as too cheap, but did not identify the name of the bidder.

New York-based Cerberus declined to comment.

The firm, named for the mythological three-headed dog guarding the gates of Hades and known for its loss-making acquisition of Chrysler, has no investments in Australia.

The Financial Times on Thursday also reported that the mystery bidder was Cerberus. The paper also said other private equity firms are working on potential bids for the unit, including Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co and TPG . KKR declined comment, while TPG was not immediately available for comment.

Foster's left the door open to better offers for the wine business, which has vineyards from California's Napa Valley to the Hunter Valley near Sydney. Sales of Foster's wine, including Beringer, Penfolds and Wolf Blass, have been hit by a deep U.S. recession and a trend away from low-end, bulk wines in Australia.

Foster's, being advised by Gresham Advisory Partners and Goldman Sachs, declined to comment on the identity of the bidder for its Treasury Wine Estates business except to say it was an international private equity firm.

Foster's shares closed up 0.1 percent at A$6.34, underperforming a 1 percent gain in the broader market <.AXJO>. The shares jumped 4.5 percent jump on Wednesday after it rejected the offer of between A$2.3 billion and A$2.7 billion.

Late last month, sources said brewing groups SABMiller and Japan's Asahi Breweries <2502.T> were looking at the company's beer operations, valued at more than $10 billion, which reap some of the highest profit margins in the brewing world.

(Reporting by Megan Davies in New York and Sonali Paul in Melbourne; Editing by Mark Bendeich, Bernard Orr)

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