Anheuser-Busch InBev said Friday that it had reached a deal to resolve the United States government’s antitrust concerns over the beer maker’s planned $20.1 billion deal to buy Grupo Modelo, the maker of Corona beer and other brands.
The Obama administration filed suit on Jan. 31, seeking to block the deal on antitrust grounds. United States authorities said the original merger proposal would increase Anheuser-Busch InBev’s control of the American beer market, letting it raise prices while reducing choice for local consumers.
But in February, Anheuser-Busch InBev offered broad concessions, saying it would sell the rights to Corona and other Grupo Modelo brands in the United States to Constellation Brands, one of the world’s largest wine companies, for $2.9 billion.
The firms did not immediately release details of the concessions agreed to with the Justice Department, but they said in a joint statement that “the proposed resolution is substantially in line with the revised transaction announced on February 14, 2013.â€
The parties are asking the courts to extend a stay of the proceedings until April 23 to allow them to finalize the details of the agreement.
