Brewers Asahi and Damm vying with buyout funds for Peroni, Grolsch deal - sources

By Pamela Barbaglia

LONDON, Jan 15 (Reuters) - Japan's Asahi Group Holdings and Spain's S (Other OTC: UBGXF - news) .A. Damm have submitted offers for SABMiller (Xetra: BRW1.DE - news) 's Peroni and Grolsch beer brands alongside a handful of private equity bidders, three sources with direct knowledge of the matter said on Friday.

The two brands, which are to be discarded in Anheuser-Busch InBev's $100 billion-plus takeover of SABMiller, have also attracted non-binding bids from European private equity funds PAI Partners, BC Partners and EQT, the sources said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

U.S. buyout funds Bain Capital and KKR have also submitted tentative bids after a deadline on Thursday, the sources said.

AB InBev is expected to shortlist the bidders who will be admitted to the final stages of the auction early next week and wrap up the process by the start of March, the sources said.

AB InBev, SABMiller, Asahi, Damm, PAI, BC Partners, Bain Capital (Other OTC: CGHC - news) and KKR declined to comment. EQT had no immediate comment. (Reporting by Pamela Barbaglia; editing by Freya Berry)