$12B deal brewing for Corona stake

THE “KING of Beers” may be aiming to reign over Mexico.

Anheuser-Busch InBev, which makes Budweiser and Stella Artois beers, is in talks to buy an additional 50% stake in Corona beer brewer Group Modelo.

AB InBev already owns the other half of the company, a noncontrolling stake it inherited when it bought Anheuser-Busch Cos. in 2008 for $52 billion.

The Belgian-based brewer is set to shell out more than $12 billion for Groupo Modelo, Mexico’s biggest brewer, sources familiar with the deal said.

An announcement of the purchase could come as early as this week, the source said. The Wall Street Journal initially reported that a deal was in the works.

It would be the latest in a string of takeovers for AB InBev. In April, its Brazilian unit agreed to buy a controlling stake in Dominican Republic-based brewer Cerveceria Nacional Dominicana for more than $1.2 billion.

AB InBev controls more than 50% of the U.S. beer market.