Molson Coors Brewing Co , viewed by some as a potential suitor for the beer business of Foster's Group Ltd , is interested in acquisitions as long as they are smart, its chief executive said on Wednesday.

Chief Executive Peter Swinburn told an investor meeting that the brewer is interested in acquisitions as long as they add to earnings in the near term and are good for the business.

Last month, The Source blog on The Wall Street Journal's website said Molson, SABMiller Plc and Japan's Asahi Breweries Ltd <2502.T> could all be potential suitors for the Foster's beer business if it was separate from the wine business.

At the same meeting Leo Kiely, chief executive of the MillerCoors venture between Molson and SABMiller, said he expects costs for commodities such as fuel and aluminum to moderate as 2010 progresses.

Kiely said he is looking for cost of goods sold per barrel of beer to increase at a mid-single-digit rate in the first half of 2010 with moderation in the back half of the year.

(Reporting by Martinne Geller, editing by Robert MacMillan and Matthew Lewis)

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