InBev buys SABMiller

[LouieMacGoo]

I'm not really sure how I feel about this. Is it scary that Bud and Miller are now one company or is it a sign that these 2 companies are feeling the affects of the rise of craft beer and this an attempt to stay alive?

http://money.cnn.com/2015/10/13/investi ... er-merger/

[Beer-lord]

It started to sound like it wasn't going to happen. Really, the beer industry is crazy over the last 2 years. You don't know what will happen next.
They were so much on opposite sides so it'll be interesting to see what beer lives and what beer dies. One thing is sure, the craft beer industry has the big guys looking over their shoulder.

[Dawg LB Steve]

With control of over 50% of the beer market now, look for them to start pushing money into politicians pockets to cripple and kill Craft Brewery Distribution networks!

[RickBeer]

I expect they will continue to buy or invest in craft breweries worldwide. When the bandwagon gets going, you jump on it. Look at Coke and Pepsi as they branched into water, vitamin-infused drinks, caffeine-hopped drinks, etc.

The good thing if they do combine is that we can come up with all sorts of new names. Budiller, Budors, ...

[RedBEERd]

Yum Millerweiser and Budder Lite.

[bpgreen]

With control of over 50% of the beer market now, look for them to start pushing money into politicians pockets to cripple and kill Craft Brewery Distribution networks!

Ab inbev is already being investigated by the justice department for that.

[Pudge]

I don't have a dog in that fight since I rarely drink any of that stuff.

Craft beer is going local. Regional craft breweries are expanding, but I don't think as fast as the local guys. Look for national craft breweries to begin to have issues too as they need to charge higher prices for distribution while the local brew pub just puts their own stuff on tap... fresher, cheaper, and sometimes better.

[BlackDuck]

Ab inbev is already being investigated by the justice department for that.

I was wondering about that.

[bpgreen]

I'm not really sure how I feel about this. Is it scary that Bud and Miller are now one company or is it a sign that these 2 companies are feeling the affects of the rise of craft beer and this an attempt to stay alive?

http://money.cnn.com/2015/10/13/investi ... er-merger/

They're not one company yet. Miller's board voted to recommend it to shareholders. The shareholders still need to vote for it (almost sure to be approved) and it has to pass regulatory approval in both the US and Europe. I suspect that at a minimum, they'll need to sell parts of the company to get approval here.

[duff]

I don't really like this idea. I think they will have too much internal competition and cut down on the number of light american lager products made. But they will continue to try to get into the expanding craft beer market and mostly miss the mark with their faux craft beer products. And of course they will start buying up more of the craft brewers which at the moment they aren't doing to much to change the ones they bought but their history shows they like try to make things cheaper.

[Whamolagan]

coors limelite, budstone, codouls, coorsrita otherwise known as CLR. millbudco the king of champagne buffet beers. Could care less what they do as long as they stay out of my grain bag

[Brewbirds]

I just hope that of all the beers they collectively produce they don't get rid of my Mom's favorite slug killer Busch.

We've even been known to drink that one on occasion (hey Mom's pantry ya' know ).

[The_Professor]

It will improve their "Beer on demand". Each plant will have a variety of labels. Whatever beer needs to ship is what they made.

[BigPapaG]

New info on this today...

Looks like SABMiller will have to sell it's stake in a joint venture that it has with Molsen, to Molsen, including the Miller Brand in the U.S....

Beer Merger Will Not Bring Budweiser, Miller Under Same Roof