The company says that it has agreed a deal with Japan-based Asahi to sell its 19.9 per cent stake in Tsingtao for $667m (€507.6m) as part of its restructuring plan to repay debt from its acquisition of Budweiser maker Anheuser-Busch last year. Due to the minority holding, the group said it favoured a sale to better make use of the China-based brewer's value in the current financial market. Emerging market concern Just last week, leading brewers suggested that they were facing trouble even in higher-growth markets such as Russia, due to fears over the economic downturn. Rival multinational SABMiller in particular suggested organic sales volumes in Russia had fallen by 22 per cent over the three month-period ending 31 December. The group blamed de-stocking of wholesaler inventories that began in the country in September.