Foster's was at the centre of takeover speculation yesterday as Deutsche Bank confirmed it had built a 5.3 per cent stake on behalf of an unknown investor and analysts suggested the Australian drinks group was in the sights of SABMiller, the London-listed brewer, and Heineken of the Netherlands.

Shares in Foster's have been battered after the group issued a June profits warning and cut the carrying value of its global wine assets by A$1.2bn ($993.3m).