The European Commission has cleared under the EU Merger Regulation the proposed acquisition of SABMiller, the world's second largest brewer, by AB InBev, the world's largest brewer. The clearance is conditional on AB InBev selling practically the entire SABMiller beer business in Europe. Commissioner Margrethe Vestager, in charge of competition policy said: "Today's decision will ensure that competition is not weakened in these markets and that EU consumers are not worse off. Europeans buy around 125 billion euros of beer every year, so even a relatively small price increase could cause considerable harm to consumers. It was therefore very important to ensure that AB InBev's takeover of SABMiller did not reduce competition on European beer markets." The Commission had concerns that the transaction, as initially notified, could have led to higher beer prices in Member States where SABMiller is currently active, because it would have removed an important competitor and made tacit co-ordination between the leading international brewers more likely. By offering to divest practically all of SABMiller's beer business in Europe, AB InBev has addressed these concerns. In view of the remedies proposed, the Commission concluded that the proposed transaction, as modified, would no longer raise competition concerns. Indeed, following the transaction, the intensity of competition in the European beer market will remain unchanged. The transaction was examined under the normal merger review procedure. More information will be available on the competition website, in the Commission's public case register under the case number M.7881.
