Job cuts brewing

The world’s largest brewer, AB Inbev, expects to cut about 3 percent of its total workforce once it completes a $104 billion takeover of its closest rival, SABMiller.

Leuven, Belgium-based AB Inbev has about 150,000 workers, while London-based SABMiller employs around 70,000. That suggests the estimated job losses could be at least 6,600 over a three-year period, as possible cuts to sales and front-office staff haven’t yet been decided.

AB Inbev, the maker of Budweiser, Corona and Beck’s beer, is known for being aggressive in cutting costs following takeovers and mergers, analysts say. The company was created by the 2008 takeover of St. Louis, Missouri’s Anheuser-Busch by Belgium’s InBev. It expects the latest takeover to deliver annual cost savings of about $1.4 billion after about four years.