JULY 15, 2008

A big change in the beer world

The Belgian brewery firm InBev has acquired the US beer firm Anheuser-Busch for $52bn. The purchase creates the world's largest beer company. The new company, which will be the number one beer company in the world, will be called Anheuser-Busch-InBev and will control brands such as Stella Artois, Bass, Beck's, Boddingtons, Brahma, Labatt, Lowenbrau, Budweiser, Busch, Michelob and Rolling Rock.

The firm will be controlled by Brazilian Carlos Brito, who took over as chief executive at the end of 2005, following the merger of Interbrew and Brazil's AmBev. It will be interesting to see if there are any changes in marketing as Budweiser has been a big player in US motorsport for years.