Commentators predicted that given the high rate of consolidation, the total number of brewers may reduce to just 100-200 in the longer term.
More extreme predictions held that "ultimately, a handful giant players-beer’s equivalent of P&G and Nike will dominate the industry and capture most of the available profit."
Tsingtao initially announced that it was aiming to become one the world’s top ten brewers before its 100th anniversary in August 2003 (a goal that was later revised to 2012).
In October 2002, Tsingtao entered into an agreement with Anheuser-Busch, already an owner of 4.5 percent of Tsingtao since 1993.
Anheuser-Busch would increase its ownership in the company to 27 percent by injecting $182 million, and would provide technical assistance to Tsingtao.