Anheuser-Busch deal has hiccup
Times Wire Services
The Justice Department approved a $52-billion beer deal, allowing Belgian-based InBev to buy out Anheuser-Busch Cos. of St. Louis and create the world’s largest brewer.
But InBev’s buzz comes with a slight hiccup: It must sell subsidiary Labatt USA before regulators let the merger go through.
That’s because Anheuser-Busch’s Budweiser and Bud Light compete directly with Labatt Blue and Labatt Blue Light in upstate New York. Without the sell-off condition, the Justice Department said, beer prices would increase in Buffalo, Rochester and Syracuse, N.Y.
