Anheuser-Busch InBev is about to sell SABMiller Plc’s Pilsner Urquell and other beer brands worth of $6 billion. The management has planned to sell those brands in central and Eastern Europe. This effort by AB InBev is to get regulatory approval for its $107.5 billion acquisition of the London-based brewer. AB InBev will possibly be cutting back in a difficult market.
A revised proposal was submitted to the European Commission by AB InBev. This also mentioned a commitment to sell operations in Hungary, Romania, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Poland. The company has already confirmed to sell the Peroni, Grolsch and Meantime brands to Japan’s Asahi Group Holdings Ltd. The company is doing whatever it would take to win the regulatory proposal.
The company has agreed to generate a $69 billion fund in order to lend support for the South African beer sector and protect jobs in the country, where SAB was founded. It is also selling stakes in joint ventures SAB held in the US and China.
If they gain approval, SABMiller and Anheuser-Busch would establish a giant beer industry that would make up of around 30% of global beer sales. Anheuser-Busch thinks of closing the deal for SABMiller in the second half of this year.
Anheuser-Busch agreed to sell 59% stake of SABMiller in MillerCoors in the United States to SABMiller’s partner in a joint venture, Molson Coors Brewing. In November, the company agreed to sell them for about $12 billion. This deal includes global rights to the Miller brand and this deal would make Molson Coors the second-largest brewer in the United States, behind Anheuser-Busch.
“We are very proud of these businesses, their brands and the people that have made them the successes they are today, and we will continue to grow and support them throughout this process,” said Alan Clark, SABMiller’s chief executive on SABMiller.