A Franklin County circuit court judge has ruled that the Kentucky Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) must issue Anheuser-Busch Inbev (ABI) a distributor’s license for the Budweiser of Owensboro distributorship. ABI’s application was previously approved by the local authorities in Owensboro and had been pending for more than 60 days with the ABC, which violated statutory provisions governing such transactions. The move by ABI had been opposed by the Kentucky Guild of Brewers, The National Beer Wholesalers Association, the Wine and Spirits Wholesalers Association, the MillerCoors wholesalers, several of the state’s ABI distributors and retailers. The ruling will now allow ABI to complete the acquisition of the distributorship, pending a possible appeal by the ABC.