published on 11/09/08
Anheuser-Busch said Wednesday that a lawsuit filed in an attempt to block InBev’s $52 billion takeover of the Budweiser maker lacks merit.
“We believe that the claims alleged in the lawsuit are without merit and we intend to vigorously defend against them,” Gary Rutledge, vice president of legal and government affairs, said in a statement.
Joseph Alioto, a prominent San Francisco antitrust lawyer, filed a lawsuit Wednesday in a federal court in St. Louis on behalf of 10 Missouri beer drinkers, alleging that the takeover hurts consumers with higher prices and smaller selections.
The beer market is “plainly a market ripe for probable if not certain collusion and a galloping tendency toward monopoly,” the lawsuit says. “If InBev is allowed to purchase Anheuser-Busch, there no longer would be any significant major potential competitor to influence pricing and marketing practices in the United States anywhere near the degree to which InBev, as the largest brewer in the world, is able to do.”
St. Louis-based Anheuser-Busch Cos. Inc. (NYSE: BUD), through its Anheuser-Busch Inc. subsidiary, is the leading domestic brewer, holding a 48.5 percent share of U.S. beer sales.
Anheuser-Busch's Fairfield brewery has a capacity of 4.4 million barrels per year. The brewery produces Budweiser, Bud Light, Busch, Busch Light and Natural Light, and serves Northern California, Alaska, Northern Nevada, Oregon, Washington and Hawaii.
The company accepted a $52 billion takeover offer from Belgian InBev, which will create the world’s largest brewer when the deal closes

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