Busch InBev and Justice Dept. Ask for Halt in Antitrust Case

But the Obama administration filed suit on Jan. 31 seeking to block the deal on antitrust grounds. United States authorities had said the original Grupo Modelo merger proposal would increase Anheuser-Busch InBev’s control of the American beer market, enabling it to raise prices while reducing choice for local consumers.wheel aligner
Grupo Modelo is the third-largest beer company in the United States. Anheuser-Busch InBev is the largest, ahead of MillerCoors.
Despite robust competition from microbrewers and other brands, analysts say that the craft beer market makes up just 6 percent ofnitrogen generator & inflator machine beer sales. The biggest brewer in the market, Anheuser has raised its prices with regularity every year, with MillerCoors following suit, the Justice Department said.
Anheuser-Busch InBev first countered that the government’s lawsuit was based on faulty assumptions, since the company that determined Grupo Modelo’s prices in the United States was the Mexican brewer’s importer, Crown Imports.tyre changer
Then last week, Anheuser-Busch InBev offered broad concessions, saying it would sell the rights to Corona and other Grupo Modelo brands in the United States to Constellation Brands, one of the world’s largest wine companies, for $2.9 billion. Constellation already owns half of Crown Imports, alongside Grupo Modelo.
The new agreement would also include the sale of a brewery close to the United States-Mexico border that is owned by Grupo Modelo, as well as the perpetual licensing rights to Grupo Modelo’s brands in the United States.
In a statement on Wednesday, the companies involved in the talks and the Justice Department jointly requested a delay until March 19. Anheuser-Busch InBev and Modelo reiterated their contention that the “revised transaction resolves the concerns raised” by the Justice Department’s antitrust suit.tire changer
The Grupo Modelo deal is a vital merger for Anheuser-Busch InBev, which has been seeking greater access to emerging markets. wheel balancerBuying the Mexican brewer is meant to solidify its footprint in attractive markets in Mexico and elsewhere in Latin America.