Update May 2009: Belgium antitrust authorities briefly examined InBev’s pricing practices, finding no anticompetitive conduct.
Update: November 2008: US, UK, and Chinese antitrust authorties approved the InBev-Anheuser-Busch merger. In the US, the merged entity was required to license its Labatt brand to a third party for production and sale in the US and was prohibited from importing Canadian brewed Labatt.
The Department of Justice, Antitrust Division, has issued a second request seeking additional information on the competitive impact of the proposed Anheuser-Busch/InBev merger. Second requests are often used to extend the Division’s time to review a transaction, and the mere issuance of a second request does not by itself suggest that the merger will ultimately be challenged by the government.