Agreement for acquisition of SABMiller by AB InBev

The European Commission approves the takeover of beer brewer SABMiller by its major competitor AB InBev. In October 2015, the first formal offer Done. The merger creates the largest beer company in the world.

The European Commission previously feared that the two major powers together would gain an overly dominant position on the global beer market, allowing them to raise their prices. However, almost the entire European division of SABMiller has been sold recently, allaying those fears, Brussels concluded on Tuesday, May 24, 2016. As part of the mega-beer merger, Grolsch and the Italian Peroni were among those involved. sold to the Japanese Asahi.

Interest
AB InBev is the parent company of Corona, Stella Artois, and Budweiser, among others. In addition to Grolsch and Peroni, SABMiller is known for brands such as Miller and the Czech Pilsner Urquell, which is, however, also being sold. Significant interest has already been shown by major investment firms such as KKR, BC Partners, and Advent.

Competition
The threat of a price increase was quickly dismissed.
“Europeans buy about 125 billion euros worth of beer every year, so even a relatively small price increase could cause significant damage to consumers,” states European Commissioner Margrethe Vestager. “That is why it was important to ensure that the acquisition of SABMiller by AB InBev would not lead to less competition on the European beer markets.”

Largest
AB InBev is currently the world's largest brewer, followed by its new partner. According to the European Commission, after the merger, the two together sell twice as much beer as Heineken, currently the third-largest brewery in the world, and five times more beer than Carlsberg, currently the international number four.

In Europe, Heineken and Carlsberg are the market leaders, and the merger brings together numbers three and four, measured by the volume of beer sold.

Via Nu.nl & ANP