Boulder, CO • November 11, 2015—Bob Pease, the chief executive officer of the Brewers Association (BA), released the following statement regarding the announcement this morning that Anheuser-Busch InBev (ABInBev) and SABMiller had agreed to terms under which ABInBev would acquire SABMiller:
“The Brewers Association, the national trade association for America’s more than 4,000 small and independent breweries, is carefully reviewing the terms of the acquisition announced today by ABInBev and SABMiller, and, in the days ahead, we would urge the Congress and the Department of Justice to closely examine the potential effects on the U.S. marketplace and American consumers of this proposed deal.
“The size and scope of the ABInBev business has many ramifications for the U.S. beer industry, even with the divestiture of the MillerCoors joint venture. The most obvious is that ABInBev is still by far the largest brewer and beer distributor in the United States. It is vital for the continued success of small brewers that we have access to market with an independent and competitive middle distribution tier.
“Over time, ABInBev will have significant new global revenues to invest in the United States if it chooses to do so as a result of this acquisition. The MillerCoors operation will undergo significant changes. ABInBev’s new international footprint and scale give the company greater influence over commodities used in brewing and many other facets of the beer industry that could affect competition in the U.S. market.
“All of these issues – and their potential effect on small brewers, the broader industry and U.S. beer drinkers – must be carefully weighed and scrutinized by antitrust authorities.”
Contact: Abby Berman (on behalf of the Brewers Association) 646-695-7044.
# # #
About the Brewers Association
The Brewers Association is the not-for-profit trade association dedicated to small and independent American brewers, their beers and the community of brewing enthusiasts. The Brewers Association (BA) represents more than 70 percent of the brewing industry, and its members make more than 99 percent of the beer brewed in the U.S. The BA organizes events including the World Beer Cup℠, Great American Beer Festival®, Craft Brewers Conference & BrewExpo America®, SAVOR℠: An American Craft Beer & Food Experience, AHA National Homebrewers Conference, National Homebrew Competition and American Craft Beer Week®. The BA publishes The New Brewer magazine and its Brewers Publications division is the largest publisher of contemporary and relevant brewing literature for today’s craft brewers and homebrewers.
Beer lovers are invited to learn more about the dynamic world of craft beer at CraftBeer.com and about homebrewing via the BA’s American Homebrewers Association. Follow us on Twitter.
Resource Hub