DEALTALK-ABInBev tests investor thirst with CEE assets

* Private equity buyer would need sweetening of deal

* Limited interest for now from brewing rivals

* ABInBev not forced into fire sale, could back out

By Simon Meads and Philip Blenkinsop

LONDON/BRUSSELS, June 18 (Reuters) - Anheuser-Busch InBev's (ABI.BR) central European assets are not top of its for-sale list, not on the must-buy charts of rivals, and will need some sweetening to secure a deal with a private equity suitor.

The world's largest brewer is testing the appetite of buyers for 11 breweries spread from the Czech Republic to Bulgaria, and may hold out for at least $2 billion.

Five private equity companies have expressed interest, sources have told Reuters -- Cinven, [CINV.UL], Warburg Pincus [WP.UL] CVC Capital Partners, TPG [TPG.UL] and KKR [KKR.UL].

But their interest may have been whetted more by the prospect of a favourably constructed deal than any thirst for beer.

KKR stepped into brewing by agreeing to buy ABInBev's Korea unit Oriental Brewery last month, but that was a single business and one it might sell back to the Belgian brewer, which has a right to retrieve it in five years at set but undisclosed terms.[ID:nHKG270104]

The group of bidders, a respectable interest but hardly a stampede, might need some reassurance about a resale and some vendor financing to push the deal through.

"That's the only reason I can think that private equity guys would look at ABInBev CEE today," said a private equity manager.

Terms of the Korea buyback clause are not known and could range from an offer of fair market value to a more detailed deal giving KKR a defined return on its investment.

That ABInBev may not want or be able to buy back the business is the risk the buyer must be prepared to bear.

Brewing rivals certainly appear uninterested at the moment.

Heineken (HEIN.AS) and Carlsberg (CARLb.CO) are still paying off their 7.8 billion pound ($12.79 billion) purchase of Scottish & Newcastle last year.