UPDATE 3-ABInBev sells down stake in Tsingtao to Asahi

* ABInBev to sell 19.9 pct stake in Tsingtao to Asahi

* Receives $667 million for stake

* Maintains 7 pct stake in Tsingtao (Changes dateline, adds analyst comment, ABInBev advisers)

LONDON, Jan 23 (Reuters) - Anheuser-Busch InBev, the world's biggest brewer, sold most of its stake in Tsingtao Breweries of China to Japan's Asahi Breweries, in a $667 million deal that will help cut its multi-billion dollar debt pile.

Belgium-based InBev bought U.S. rival Anheuser for $52 billion in cash last November and has been looking at disposals to cut its debt. Anheuser's near 27 percent stake in Tsingtao (0168.HK) (600600.SS) was seen by analysts as likely to be sold off along with other assets.

Under the deal, Asahi Breweries (2501.T) will take a 19.9 percent stake in Tsingtao, while ABInBev INTB.BR will keep 7 percent.

The brewer of Budweiser, Stella Artois and Beck's is looking to pay down a $45 billion loan it took to buy Anheuser. Analysts say it may also look to sell Anheuser's U.S. theme parks and packaging operations, and InBev's Korean and German beer businesses.

Goldman Sachs analysts said the stake sale was a "small positive" for ABInBev, but warned it would be harder to get favourable valuations for the other businesses.

"Tsingtao is one of the easiest assets to dispose of given the strategic value for any buyer," they wrote in a note to clients.

The deal values Tsingtao at 14 times estimated 2008 earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA), against a three-year sector average of 12.3 times, they said.

ABInBev said proceeds will be used to repay debt resulting from its Anheuser acquisition and it expects the transaction to be completed by the end of the first quarter. It has no current plans to sell additional shares in Tsingtao.

Japanese brewers Asahi and major rival Kirin Holdings Co (2503.T) have been looking to snap up overseas assets to grow outside their mature domestic beer market, which has contracted by 15 percent in volumes terms over the past decade.

Asahi and Tsingtao have already worked together for more than a decade, setting up a joint venture, Shenzhen Tsingtao Beer Asahi Co., Ltd., in 1997.

Last month, Asahi agreed to buy Cadbury's CBRY.L Australian soft drinks business for $811 million, while earlier this week Kirin said it would buy a 43 percent stake in the beer unit of Philippine conglomerate San Miguel Corp (SMC.PS), in a deal that could cost over $1.26 billion.

ABInBev shares rose 6.1 percent to 18.50 euros by 1600 GMT. They hit a five-year low of 9.96 euros last November when worries about how the brewer would pay for Anheuser were at their height.

Asahi was advised by Nomura on the deal. ABInBev was advised by Lazard, BNP Paribas and ING.

(Reporting by David Jones and Quentin Webb with additional reporting by Nathan Layne in Tokyo; Editing by David Cowell and Rupert Winchester))