AB Inbev offers concessions in bid to win EU okay for SABMiller buy

[BRUSSELS] Anheuser-Busch InBev has submitted concessions to European Union antitrust regulators to try to secure approval for its US$100 billion-plus takeover of SABMiller, the largest ever deal in the consumer goods industry.

The European Commission said it would now decide by May 24 whether to clear the deal, a filing on its website showed without giving further details.

AB Inbev has already struck a deal to sell SABMiller's Peroni and Grolsch brands and their related businesses in Italy, the Netherlands and Britain to Japan's Asahi Group Holdings to fend off EU regulatory worries.

The SABMiller acquisition would allow AB InBev to expand into countries such as Colombia and Peru and crucially, Africa.

The world's top brewer is also selling SABMiller's stake in US joint venture MillerCoors to Molson Coors Brewing and SABMiller's stake in its CR Snow venture to China Resources Beer to address competition concerns in other regions.

REUTERS