AB InBev Is Selling Its Eastern European Beer Brands to Asahi

Tying up loose ends on the biggest beer merger in history, AB InBev is once again shedding some of its brands. The New York Times reports that the massive international beer conglomerate is selling its Central and Eastern European brewery holdings to Japanese beer giant Asahi for $7.8 billion.

AB InBev acquired the brands, which include Pilsner Urquell, when it joined forces with SABMiller this fall in a merger valued at more than $100 billion. Prior to the merger, the companies proposed selling SABMiller’s holdings in Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, and Slovakia in order to gain support from the European Union’s antitrust regulators.

According to the Times, Asahi is aiming to strengthen its brand holdings outside of Japan, where the market is aging and shrinking. It isn’t the first time Asahi has reaped acquisitions as a result of the AB InBev-SAB Miller merger. In February, the company purchased Peroni and Grolsch from SABMiller for $2.9 billion.

Meanwhile, AB InBev is bringing Chicago-based brewery Goose Island, which it purchased back in February, to London in the form of a pub, Big Hospitality reports. According to Eater Chicago, it’s been dubbed The Vintage Ale House and will be the UK’s “first American craft beer bar” — albeit one backed by a colossal beverage giant.

• Asahi to Buy Beer Brands From Anheuser-Busch InBev for $7.8 Billion [NYT]
• AB InBev to Open Craft Beer Bar in London [Big Hospitality]
• Japan's Asahi to Buy Beer Labels Peroni and Grolsch for a Cool $3 Billion [E]
• Tracking the Biggest Beer Merger in History [E]