Anheuser-Busch InBev has revised the terms of its $20.1 billion deal to acquire family-controlled Grupo Modelo in hopes of winning approval from U.S. antitrust authorities, the
New York Times’
DealBook blog reported.
Under the revised terms, the company would sell the rights to Grupo Modelo brands in the U.S. to family-controlled Constellation Brands for $2.9 billion. A brewery near the U.S.-Mexico border now owned by Modelo would also be sold to Constellation, as would the perpetual licensing rights to Modelo’s brands in the U.S., the
Times
article said.
A
Wall Street Journal
report
noted that the deal would turn Constellation, which already is one of the world’s largest wine companies, into the third-largest U.S. beer supplier.
AB InBev contends that the revised deal would give Constellation an independent brewing business and that Modelo would divest all of its American operations, according to the
Times
report.
Antitrust legal expert Allen Grunes told the
Journal
that the key issue is whether U.S. authorities think Constellation is an adequate buyer that will keep the market competitive. (Sources: DealBook,
New York Times,
Feb. 14, 2013;
Wall Street Journal,
Feb. 15, 2013.)
-
579 reads