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US Justice Dept. says no to Budweiser

Friday, February 01 08:38:12

The US Justice Department have set their sights against a major consolidation in the beer market with the combination of the Corona beer maker with the makers of Budweiser in the US. The $20.1 billion deal would have combined the biggest and third-biggest beer makers in the country, adding Grupo Modelo's fast-growing Corona brand to AB InBev's sizable portfolio, which includes Budweiser, Bud Light, Beck's and Stella. The merger, announced last summer, would also usher in further consolidation in the U.S. beer market, which has been steadily winnowed down to two major brewers in recent years: AB InBev, based in Belgium, and Chicago-based MillerCoors, the company behind Miller Lite and Coors.

Antitrust officials said Thursday they were alarmed by the prospect of AB InBev gaining even more market share by buying a direct competitor.

"We took this action today because we believe the acquisition is a bad deal for American consumers," said Bill Baer, head of the Justice Department's antitrust division.

After years of major mergers being approved without much pushback from the government, the lawsuit highlights the Obama administration's willingness to go to court to block high-profile deals. Antitrust officials scored a major victory about a year ago when they opposed a merger between AT and T and T-Mobile, causing the companies to eventually drop the deal.