Sipping tea in his wood-panelled office in Johannesburg, Graham Mackay, the boss of sABMiller, calls his firm a "turnaround specialist". What he means is that the company, formed when South African Breweries bought America's Miller Brewing for $5.6 billion in 2002, is good at knocking assorted doddery brewers into profitable shape. But these abilities may soon face a severe test in China, where the South African could soon be leading the first hostile foreign takeover of a Chinese firm. China is now the world's biggest beer market by volume. But it is gripped by price wars between the mostly local brands that dominate sales. In South Africa, Mr Mackay is used to having a huge market share, which he says is "about 98%" of the general beer market. This has deterred nearly all potential rivals from even trying to compete with SABMiller there.
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