E-Malt.com News article: United States: InBev’s takeover of Anheuser-Busch still disputed in court

In a long-shot challenge to Belgian beer giant InBev's 2008 purchase of American icon Anheuser-Busch, critics of the deal told a federal judge on April, 16 that U.S. antitrust regulators didn't adequately protect consumers from harm to the beer market, Dow Jones communicated on April, 16.

The U.S. Department of Justice cleared the beer deal last November with conditions, requiring InBev to sell its Labatt USA division in order to preserve competition in upstate New York.

Joseph Alioto, a lawyer for a group of Missouri critics seeking to scuttle the deal, told U.S. District Court Judge James Robertson in Washington that the government's settlement was "absurd on its face."

InBev closed its $52 billion purchase of Anheuser-Busch after receiving clearance from the Justice Department, but the settlement with antitrust regulators isn't final until Robertson approves it.

The combined companies are now called Anheuser-Busch InBev), the world's largest brewer.

Alioto said the merger gives InBev too much control over the U.S. beer market and allows it to raise prices.

He also said InBev's forced sale of Labatt would prove ineffective at preserving competition because the buyer, New York-based private-equity firm KPS Capital Partners LP, "has never been in the beer business before."

Justice Department lawyer Mitchell Glende told Robertson that the antitrust settlement was in the public's interest and he said KPS, which has formed a subsidiary called North American Breweries Inc., "does have the intent and ability to compete effectively."

Glende and a lawyer for InBev both urged Robertson to give the settlement final approval.

Robertson didn't rule from the bench but promised a decision soon, saying, "I'm going to ponder it a little bit."

Alioto's clients have a separate antitrust lawsuit against the beer makers pending in a Missouri federal court. A judge there, however, rejected the plaintiffs' request last fall for a preliminary injunction to block the deal.


17 April, 2009