We have microbreweries that make small-batch craft beers. We have macrobreweries that make the mass-produced brands like Budweiser and Miller. But now Budweiser and Miller, or rather the global corporations that now control them both, are working on a merger! That would result in a megabrewery. No, since this conglomerate would make a one third of the world’s beer supply, it would have to be called a gigabrewery!
If the merger could pass all of the regulatory and anti-trust hurdles, that is. Here is a list of beers that would come under this vast corporate umbrella, including lots of foreign stalwarts and brews that purists find acceptable. (Both corporations have been buying up smaller breweries.) Details of the proposed deal after the jump.
From This megamerger could give a single company control over a third of the world’s beer – The Washington Post:
The world’s two biggest beer behemoths are considering the largest megamerger in brewing history, after Budweiser giant Anheuser-Busch InBev said Wednesday it had pitched a takeover of SABMiller, its chief rival.
The deal would fold in some of the world’s best-selling beers beneath a $245 billion hyper-profitable brewing empire. But it would also likely put antitrust authorities on high alert, over fears that the the loss of competition could drive up prices. . . .
The long-speculated merger would combine Budweiser, Coors, Miller, Peroni and other brands under one roof, controlling roughly a third of the world’s beer supply and about half of the industry’s profits.
It could also give the companies huge cost savings on ingredients, packaging, distribution and the many other expenses that come with running a worldwide enterprise.
[Keep reading. . .]
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