Anheuser-Busch InBev Completes $107 Billion SABMiller Acquisition: Beer Industry Consolidates Into Duopoly

Anheuser-Busch InBev completed its $107 billion acquisition of SABMiller, the largest-ever deal in the beer industry, after receiving antitrust approval requiring divestiture of SABMiller’s U.S. business (MillerCoors stake) to Molson Coors. The merger consolidated the global beer industry into a near-duopoly, with AB InBev and Molson Coors controlling approximately 70% of the U.S. beer market and AB InBev dominating worldwide beer production and distribution.

The deal ended SABMiller’s corporate existence and created a beer colossus with operations in virtually every major market globally. AB InBev already controlled over 46% of the U.S. beer market before the acquisition through brands including Budweiser, Bud Light, Michelob, Stella Artois, and Corona (via earlier Grupo Modelo acquisition). SABMiller controlled an additional 25% through the MillerCoors joint venture with Molson Coors, making Miller Lite, Coors Light, and other brands.

The Department of Justice approved the merger only after AB InBev agreed to divest SABMiller’s entire U.S. business, including its 59% stake in MillerCoors, Miller brand rights worldwide, and related brewing operations, to Molson Coors for approximately $12 billion. This divestiture transformed what would have been a merger-to-monopoly into consolidation into a tight duopoly, with AB InBev and Molson Coors jointly controlling approximately 70% of U.S. beer sales.

The DOJ settlement required additional remedies beyond the MillerCoors divestiture, including prohibitions on AB InBev practices that limit independent beer distributors’ ability to sell and promote craft and import beers. These provisions aimed to protect smaller brewers from being squeezed out of distribution channels controlled by the beer giants. However, enforcement of these behavioral remedies has been limited, and craft brewers continue to report difficulty accessing retail shelf space and distributor support when competing against AB InBev’s portfolio power.

The merger approval was controversial and later challenged in court by consumers arguing the deal violated antitrust law. However, courts upheld the approval, with the 9th Circuit ruling that because AB InBev divested the U.S. MillerCoors stake, it technically didn’t acquire any additional U.S. market share and therefore the merger created no antitrust violation. This reasoning ignored the broader competitive effects of transforming a three-player market into a two-player duopoly and eliminating SABMiller as a global competitive force.

The beer industry’s consolidation history illustrates decades of weak antitrust enforcement:

• 2002: SAB acquired Miller Brewing, forming SABMiller
• 2005: Molson and Coors merged, forming Molson Coors
• 2008: InBev acquired Anheuser-Busch for $52 billion, forming AB InBev
• 2008: SABMiller and Molson Coors formed MillerCoors joint venture
• 2013: AB InBev acquired remaining stake in Grupo Modelo
• 2016: AB InBev acquired SABMiller for $107 billion

The resulting market structure gives AB InBev and Molson Coors enormous power over pricing, distribution, and retail access. The duopoly can coordinate capacity, maintain high prices, squeeze craft brewers through distribution control, and exercise portfolio leverage with retailers. Some regional markets see combined market shares exceeding 90%, giving the two companies near-total control over consumer access to beer.

Craft brewers have been particularly harmed by beer industry consolidation, facing difficulty accessing distributor networks, shelf space, and draft tap handles controlled by or favoring AB InBev and Molson Coors brands. Despite growing consumer interest in craft beer, the consolidated giants’ control over distribution infrastructure creates structural barriers preventing craft brewers from reaching consumers efficiently.