A PYMNTS Company

US: Senators Urge Careful Consideration of ‘MegaBrew’

By  |  April 26, 2016

Lawmakers and antitrust experts in Washington have once again voiced their concerns with the Department of Justice over Anheuser-Busch InBev’s impending $106 billion acquisition of SABMiller.

Last Thursday, United States senators Amy Klobuchar and Mike Lee sent an open letter to Acting Assistant Attorney General Renata Hesse urging the DOJ to more closely scrutinize the so-called “MegaBrew” transaction and its potential impact on the US beer market.

Klobuchar and Lee, both sitting veterans on the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy, and Consumer Rights, asked Hesse to place conditions on the deal that would limit the amount of influence A-B InBev or any other large brewing company could have over its distributors.

“We are concerned about any consolidation in the beer market that would make it harder for small brewers to make their products available to consumers, and in particular any significant increases in the acquisition or control of distributors by large brewers,” the letter read.

Full Content: Brewbound

Want more news? Subscribe to CPI’s free daily newsletter for more headlines and updates on antitrust developments around the world.