Anheuser Busch Inbev

The Justice Department moved Thursday to block beer giant Anheuser-Busch InBev from merging with Mexico's largest maker, Grupo Modelo, arguing the deal would threaten competition and raise prices for consumers. The $20.1 billion deal would have combined the biggest and third-biggest beer makers in the country, adding Grupo Modelo's fast-growing Corona brand to AB InBev's sizable portfolio, which includes Budweiser, Bud Light, Beck's and Stella. The merger, announced last summer, would also...

PRAGUE — Brewing giant Anheuser-Busch InBev says it no longer has plans to acquire Czech brewer Budejovicky Budvar, with whom it has been fighting a long legal battle over the use of the "Budweiser" brand. Frank Hellwig, legal director for AB InBev, says "we don't have any plans, or intention, or desire to buy Budvar" as a way of solving the dispute. Hellwig said Thursday that such an acquisition, which it had considered in the past, doesn't make commercial sense since AB InBev is...

NEW YORK -- Private equity firm Blackstone Group is close to sealing a deal to buy Anheuser-Busch InBev's theme parks unit, including such notable parks as SeaWorld and Busch Gardens, according to a media report Friday. Citing unnamed sources, the Wall Street Journal reported that the New York-based firm could buy the theme parks operated under the Busch Entertainment unit next week in a transaction worth between $2.5 billion and $3 billion. Spokesmen for Anheuser-Busch InBev and Blackstone declined to comment.

Steven Pearlstein's Feb. 3 Business story, "King of Beers or Absolute Monarch?," about our pending combination with Grupo Modelo, took unfounded swipes at our business practices at Anheuser-Busch InBev (AB). This deal is about growth outside the United States, and it will afford us no control over pricing, marketing or distribution of Modelo's brands in the United States. As Mr. Pearlstein reported, we plan to divest Modelo's U.S. business. The U.S. alcohol business is regulated at the federal and state levels, and our company...

BRUSSELS -- Anheuser-Busch InBev says it will sell its U.S. theme parks to the Blackstone Group for $2.7 billion. The sale of three SeaWorld parks, two Busch Gardens parks and five others is the largest of a string of selloffs AB-InBev has made to help pay for the $52 billion takeover deal that formed it last year. AB-InBev chief executive Carlos Brito said in a Wednesday statement that the theme parks were "not a core business" for the company.

The King of Beers finally decided to take a queen. Anheuser-Busch, the St. Louis-based maker of Budweiser, agreed Sunday to accept a $52 billion buyout offer from Belgium's InBev, home to brands such as Stella Artois and Beck's. InBev, a corporate moniker that has existed for only four years, said it will call the new beer giant Anheuser-Busch InBev, deciding not to discard a well-known brand name associated with true-blue Americana and handsome horses plowing through Christmas-card scenes.

Steven Pearlstein's Feb. 3 Business story, "King of Beers or Absolute Monarch?," about our pending combination with Grupo Modelo, took unfounded swipes at our business practices at Anheuser-Busch InBev (AB). This deal is about growth outside the United States, and it will afford us no control over pricing, marketing or distribution of Modelo's brands in the United States. As Mr. Pearlstein reported, we plan to divest Modelo's U.S. business. The U.S. alcohol business is regulated at the federal...

A key gauge of German business confidence fell in March to its lowest level since November 1982, indicating the recession in Europe's biggest economy continues unabated, said a leading German economic association, the Ifo Institute. Germany is the world's largest exporter -- making it heavily dependent on foreign demand, which has declined. Earlier this week, Deutsche Bank said it expected Germany's gross domestic product to decline 3.5 percent in 2009. Serbia and the International Monetary Fund have agreed on a $4.08 billion bailout loan to help...

-- Shamu, meet your new parents. Anheuser-Busch InBev said Wednesday it will sell its 10 theme parks across the country, including the three SeaWorlds and two Busch Gardens, to private equity firm Blackstone Group for at least $2.3 billion. The world's largest brewer, based in Belgium, has been shedding assets to help pay for the $52 billion takeover of St. Louis-based Anheuser-Busch that formed the company last year. The two sides confirmed the deal Wednesday, saying Blackstone will pay $2.3 billion in cash for Busch...

PRAGUE — Brewing giant Anheuser-Busch InBev says it no longer has plans to acquire Czech brewer Budejovicky Budvar, with whom it has been fighting a long legal battle over the use of the "Budweiser" brand. Frank Hellwig, legal director for AB InBev, says "we don't have any plans, or intention, or desire to buy Budvar" as a way of solving the dispute. Hellwig said Thursday that such an acquisition, which it had considered in the past, doesn't make...

The Justice Department moved Thursday to block beer giant Anheuser-Busch InBev from merging with Mexico's largest maker, Grupo Modelo, arguing the deal would threaten competition and raise prices for consumers. The $20.1 billion deal would have combined the biggest and third-biggest beer makers in the country, adding Grupo Modelo's fast-growing Corona brand to AB InBev's sizable portfolio, which includes Budweiser, Bud Light, Beck's and Stella. The merger, announced last summer, would also...

BRUSSELS -- Anheuser-Busch InBev says it will sell its U.S. theme parks to the Blackstone Group for $2.7 billion. The sale of three SeaWorld parks, two Busch Gardens parks and five others is the largest of a string of selloffs AB-InBev has made to help pay for the $52 billion takeover deal that formed it last year. AB-InBev chief executive Carlos Brito said in a Wednesday statement that the theme parks were "not a core business" for the company.

-- Shamu, meet your new parents. Anheuser-Busch InBev said Wednesday it will sell its 10 theme parks across the country, including the three SeaWorlds and two Busch Gardens, to private equity firm Blackstone Group for at least $2.3 billion. The world's largest brewer, based in Belgium, has been shedding assets to help pay for the $52 billion takeover of St. Louis-based Anheuser-Busch that formed the company last year. The two sides confirmed the deal Wednesday, saying Blackstone will pay $2.3 billion in cash for Busch...

NEW YORK -- Private equity firm Blackstone Group is close to sealing a deal to buy Anheuser-Busch InBev's theme parks unit, including such notable parks as SeaWorld and Busch Gardens, according to a media report Friday. Citing unnamed sources, the Wall Street Journal reported that the New York-based firm could buy the theme parks operated under the Busch Entertainment unit next week in a transaction worth between $2.5 billion and $3 billion. Spokesmen for Anheuser-Busch InBev and Blackstone...

Big Beer looks as if it's testing President Obama's tolerance. Both Anheuser-Busch InBev -- purveyor of the president's preferred brew, Bud Light -- and MillerCoors, a joint venture between SABMiller and Molson Coors, are raising prices at the same time, during a recession and while beer demand is slumping. With an 80 percent market share between them, it almost begs for an antitrust review of the industry. While the increases are not unusual or unexpected, they still raise a red flag.

A key gauge of German business confidence fell in March to its lowest level since November 1982, indicating the recession in Europe's biggest economy continues unabated, said a leading German economic association, the Ifo Institute. Germany is the world's largest exporter -- making it heavily dependent on foreign demand, which has declined. Earlier this week, Deutsche Bank said it expected Germany's gross domestic product to decline 3.5 percent in 2009. Serbia and the International Monetary Fund have agreed on a $4.08...