AB InBev’s £71bn acquisition of SABMiller – to create the world’s largest brewer – has been cleared by the European Commission.
The regulator has confirmed that as long as SABMiller’s European beer business is sold, it will not hurt consumer prices in the continent.
AB InBev described the move as a “significant milestone for the deal in keeping with AB InBev’s ambition to secure the necessary regulatory approvals that will allow for closing in the second half of 2016”.
AB InBev has already entered into an agreement for the sale of the Peroni, Grolsch and Meantime and their associated businesses in the UK, Italy, the Netherlands and internationally (excluding certain US rights) to Asahi. The Commission has approved Asahi as the purchaser of these businesses today. AB InBev also proposed the sale of SABMiller’s businesses in Central and Eastern Europe (Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Poland and Romania).
The Central and Eastern European businesses can be sold to one or two purchasers and can be completed after closing of AB InBev’s proposed combination with SABMiller.
With the European Commission clearance, the recommended combination of AB InBev with SABMiller has been cleared in 14 jurisdictions. Clearance decisions (some of which are subject to conditions) have now been obtained: in Asia-Pacific: Australia, India and South Korea; in South America: Chile, Colombia, and Mexico; in Africa: Botswana, Kenya, Namibia, Swaziland and Zambia; and in Europe: the EU, Albania and Ukraine. Approval in Ecuador is subject to certain conditions.
Ab InBev said that In the remaining jurisdictions where regulatory clearance is still pending, it will “continue to engage proactively with the relevant authorities to obtain the necessary clearances as quickly as possible”.
Margrethe Vestager, commissioner in charge of competition policy said: “Today’s decision will ensure that competition is not weakened in these markets and that EU consumers are not worse off. Europeans buy around 125 billion euros of beer every year, so even a relatively small price increase could cause considerable harm to consumers. It was therefore very important to ensure that AB InBev’s takeover of SABMiller did not reduce competition on European beer markets.”
