SABMiller acquisition may lead to Grolsch sale

MillerCoors sale

Last week, AB InBev tabled an official bid for SABMiller, in the range of 100 billion euro and when both companies merge into the biggest beer brewer in the world, they will also control a huge section of the market.

That is why the official bid was immediately followed by an announcement that SABMiller would sell its stake in the American MillerCoors joint-venture to its partner, Molson Coors.

Questions arise whether that move will be sufficient to appease the antitrust authorities. It now seems SABMiller will be forced to sell off Grolsch and Peroni’s British activities. Its stakes in Turkish brewer Efes and its entire Chinese branch may also become the victim of AB InBev’s acquisition.

All in all, these sales should raise up to 6.5 billion euro, with the Chinese branch responsible for about half of the funds.