AB-InBev and SABMiller merger?

Actually, it is an actual company.

But, yes its only in the US. And MolsonCoors and SABMiller both own approximately 50% of the company.

 

Not the way it was reported at the time. Philip Morris sells Miller to SAB
(Hmm...note, too, that back then immediately after the deal, PM's percentage of SABMiller was 36%).

Yeah, that sure is the case. Always thought it was unfortunate, too, because they came close to being able to create a division by merging two of the subsidiaries - the Kraft Beer Co... could have driven the beer geeks and the Brewers Association crazy.

And, finally ended the possibility of Marlboro Beer.

MolsonCoors' ownership percentage of the US JV MillerCoors is only 42%, according to that link above for Peter Coor bio.

 

Oops, I think "Joint Venture" is where everyone without a business background (myself included) gets confused about MillerCoors, so I tried to explain it without using that phrase, but I am apparently also confused. Derp.

 

At least we didn't have to learn that the Marlboro Man died of cirrhosis somewhere in the future.

 

But think of the technological advances. Bow-tie cans with vortex pouring capability. Triple hopped Bud Light. The King and Champagne of beers. The list is endless.

 

True. The innovative potential is mind boggling. Like Mad Men meets Blue Velvet. Elvira Lives yet!

 

42 and 50 are same order of magntitude, close enough for me.

 

Seems like the deal is much more focused on gaining market share and assets on a global level, specifically the emerging Asian markets. It's also interesting how other ventures are coming into play with soda bottling, etc. Its somewhat reminiscent of how tobacco companies, specifically PMI, expanded into other fields.

 

Not necessarily. There's definitely a very slim chance we'll survive.

 

SABMiller definitely brings something interesting to the table with its ownership of Snow beer which is a comparatively big brand in China, so it would give ABInbev ownership of a "national" Chinese beer brand along with its international premium brands that it's trying to sell there (but obviously in most beer markets national, if not regional brands make up the majority of sales, you can't expect Budweiser to make up more than a minority of any given beer market). In Africa SABMiller has a strong and growing footprint in growing consumer markets which might also prove attractive to ABInbev.

Concerning soda bottling I'm surprised that they aren't already doing this in the US, since soda manufacturing, not just bottling, is a common side business for breweries (but I guess the beer volumes in the US market have been such as to not require diversification, at least in the past). The typical northern European brewery will have a beer business, a cider business, a soda business and a bottled water business.

 

Many of the larger craft brewers are definitely in the soda and cider markets, like Boston Beer Company (Sam Adams) and FX Matt come to mind...I'm sure there are many others.

This actually raises the point that there might be other potential buyers out there for a Miller spin-off in the US than just the existing big players in the beer market. What if a company like Coca-cola or Pepsi felt like they could compete in the beer market? That could get interesting... Speculation....

 

Do either of them have a tied estate, either through the parent company or through their subsidiaries, or is that just a british thing? I've never really thought about it beyond the uk

 

Good point. I know that Coca Cola Amatil, which is 29% owned by Coca Cola Company, has entered into the Australian beer market recently.

Though the speculation at this point would point towards Pepsi-Co being bought by ABInbev rather than the other way around, or a soda company buying the remains of Miller.

 

Yeah their approval process is nuts. IIRC, you either have get approval from basically the affected members (which would be i'm assuming every country in the EU) or you can appeal to the EU Commission for overall EU approval. then there's a still like a 3 or 4 tier approval process to go through. In short, it sucks and takes way longer than the U.S.

 

Its mostly illegal in the US due to the 3 tier laws.

Prohibition ended tied houses in the US.

 

Yeah, they're based in Chicago. was always looking at their job postings.

 

I believe that Snow is actually the "best selling" beer in the world by volume.
http://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2013/06/the-worlds-top-10-beer-brands/11/

 

Philip Morris sold Miller to SAB. Miller was never independent in recent times.