BREWER CALLS TIME ON PREMIUM BEERS

BEER brands including Grolsch, Peroni and craft beer brewers Meantime could be sold as Anheuser-Busch InBev seeks to allay competition concerns over its £70bn takeover of rival SABMiller, EmilyDaviesreports.

The Belgian brewing giant needs to receive the green light from competition authorities in the EU and the US for the merger to go ahead.

AB InBev said it is contacting potential buyers to ‘proactively address potential regulatory considerations’. Possible buyers for Grolsch and Peroni – both SABMiller brands – include Netherlands-based Heineken, US brewers Molson Coors and Ireland’s C&C Group, which makes Magners cider. Meantime Brewing Company, which is based in Greenwich, London, and makes London Lager and London Pale Ale, is also being eyed for sale. It was bought by SAB in May.

The sale of SABMiller’s 58pc stake in its Miller business to Molson Coors in an £8bn deal was announced last month.

The AB InBev and SABMiller merger is the biggest takeover of a UK-based firm and the fourth largest in global corporate history. If approved, the enlarged company will make one in three pints drunk around the world.