© Pilsner Urquell
Anheuser-Busch could sell off a number of SABMiller’s beer brands in Central and Eastern Europe, in an attempt to appease antitrust regulators in respect of the proposed merger between the two companies.
The Wall Street Journal reported that “all of SABMiller’s assets in Hungary, Romania, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Poland” could be up for sale.
It includes the rights to distribute Pilsner Urquell outside the US, as well as the local Tyskie, Lech, Dreher and Ursus brands of beer.
Since announcing the $106bn takeover of SABMiller, Anheuser-Busch has preemptively sought to sell off some parts of its combined business in order to satisfy competition authorities. It had previously concentrated on selling premium brands such as Peroni and Grolsch, with Japanese brewer Asahi coming in with a deal for the pair, but now seems willing to add some regional brands to that list, too.
The assets could be worth as much as $5 billion.
Carlos Brito said that Anheuser-Busch was being “up front” with regulators.
“Since day one, we said we’d be very proactive and up front with regulators to avoid any overlaps,” Anheuser-Busch chief executive Carlos Brito was quoted as saying by The Wall Street Journal. “Of course, the final word is from the regulators.”
Last month, the company vowed to safeguard jobs in South Africa as part of concessions made to the country’s Competition Commission. It has agreed to invest ZAR 1 billion ($69 million) in protecting jobs for at least five years after its takeover of SABMiller.
© FoodBev Media Ltd 2024