No Major Beer Deals This Year

Dear Client:"We're going into a period where companies are inward-focused," said Santander analyst Tony Bucalo to BusinessWeek. Indeed, we may be unlikely to see any major beer acquisitions in 2012, says BW, for three main reasons:1. The low hanging fruit is gone. All the obvious deals have been done.2. Brewers are expensive. Their stock prices are rich relative to earnings.3. Beer volumes are lower, particularly in the all-important cash-rich US and UK markets, so there's less cash flow to finance