Brussels, 24/05/2016 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday 24 May, the European Commission authorised the planned acquisition of SABMiller, the second-largest brewer in the world, by AB InBev, the market leader. This authorisation is subject to AB InBev selling off almost all of SABMiller's brewing activities in Europe.
Initially, the Commission had concerns that the operation would lead to an increase in beer prices in the member states in which SABMiller is currently present, due to the removal of a major competitor and a greater likelihood of tacit coordination between the principal international brewing companies.
Under the agreement reached - authorisation of the transaction subject to the sale by AB InBev of almost all of SABMiller's brewing activities in Europe - these fears have now been dissipated. The company has already accepted an offer from the Japanese brewer Asahi for all of SABMiller's assets in France, Italy, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.
The Commission therefore concluded that the planned operation would no longer raise any competition issues. According to Commissioner Margrethe Vestager, who is in charge of Competition, it was “very important to ensure that the purchase of SABMiller by AB InBev would not hinder competition on the beer market in Europe”, with “Europeans are spending nearly €125 billion on beer every year”.
The planned transaction will create a global leader in the beer market. The merged entity is expected to sell twice as much beer as and make profits four times higher than Heineken, the current number three. (Original version in French by Maëlle Didion)