Reading Time: 3 minutes Copenhagen/Brussels | Reuters — The prospect of a new competitor that produces one third of an entire industry’s output would normally terrify rival companies, but brewing is different. The very local nature of lagers and ales, and the fact that a price war is seen as unlikely, mean global market leader Anheuser-Busch InBev’s imminent takeover […] Read more
Rivals see local battles, not global war, with new beer giant
Labatt’s owner wins over SABMiller at fifth attempt
Reading Time: 4 minutes Brussels/London | Reuters –– The world’s two biggest brewers agreed on Tuesday to create a company making almost a third of the world’s beer after SABMiller received an improved offer worth more than C$130 billion from larger rival Anheuser-Busch InBev. If it goes through, the deal would rank in the top five mergers in corporate […] Read more
Labatt owner ups offer for SABMiller as deadline looms
Reading Time: 3 minutes Reuters — Anheuser-Busch InBev raised its proposed takeover offer for SABMiller on Monday, as the world’s largest brewer tries to win over its smaller rival to the idea of creating a giant that would make nearly a third of the world’s beer. The owner of the Budweiser, Labatt and Alexander Keith’s brands said it would […] Read more
SABMiller rejects Labatt owner’s takeover approach
Reading Time: 4 minutes Brussels/London | Reuters –– SABMiller, the world’s second largest brewer, has promptly rejected an improved takeover proposal from Anheuser-Busch InBev, saying its 68 billion-pound (C$136 billion) valuation was “very substantially” under par. Refusal of the offer, made public Wednesday after earlier proposals were refused privately, opens the door to a week of intense wrangling before […] Read more
Labatt owner AB InBev seeks US$275B tie-up with SABMiller
Reading Time: 4 minutes Brussels/London | Reuters — Anheuser-Busch InBev, the world’s largest brewer, has approached rival SABMiller about a takeover that would form a colossus producing a third of the world’s beer. A merged group would have a market value of around US$275 billion (C$363 billion) at current prices, and would combine AB InBev’s dominance of Latin America […] Read more
EU approves first new genetically modified crops since 2013
Reading Time: 2 minutes Brussels | Reuters –– The European Union cleared the import of 10 new types of genetically modified crops and two more kinds of cut flowers on Friday, its first authorizations in more than a year after a review of its blocked approval process. The European Commission said it had authorized 10 new types of maize, […] Read more
EU proposes GM opt-out for members, angers pro- and anti-GM camps
Reading Time: 2 minutes Brussels | Reuters — The European Commission proposed on Wednesday a new law allowing individual EU countries to restrict or prohibit imported genetically modified crops even if they have been approved by the bloc as a whole. The proposal covering GM crops in human food and animal feed upset trading partners, notably the U.S., which […] Read more
EU raids ethanol companies over price-fixing concerns
Reading Time: 2 minutes Brussels | Reuters — The European Commission has raided ethanol companies in two EU countries as part of investigations into alleged price-fixing. The Commission, which acts as the competition watchdog in the 28-member European Union, said Thursday it had concerns that companies may have colluded in submitting price information used to set industry benchmarks for […] Read more
Say cheese: EU strikes trade deal with Canada
Reading Time: 4 minutes The European Union and Canada agreed in principle on a multi-billion-dollar trade pact Friday that will integrate two of the world’s largest economies and paves the way for Europe to clinch an even bigger deal with the United States. Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso sealed the pact — […] Read more
EU, Canada near trade pact after breaking impasse
Reading Time: 3 minutes The European Union and Canada are expected to close negotiations on a multi-billion-dollar trade deal on Friday that will integrate two of the world’s biggest economies — if they can overcome final disagreements ranging from medicine patents to feta cheese. Canada’s Prime Minister Stephen Harper and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso will meet at […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
