AB Inbev probe begins over rigging of Belgian beer market

As it looks to seal the acquisition of SAB Miller, Anheuser-Busch InBev will face an antitrust probe the European Commission over possible abuse of its dominant position in the Belgian beer market.

EC competition chief Margrethe Vestager suggested AB Inbev hindered imports of its beer from less expensive neighbouring countries, the Netherlands and France, to the more expensive Belgian market, which would breach European Union competition rules.

The Commission's preliminary view is that AB InBev "may be pursuing a deliberate strategy to restrict so-called 'parallel trade' of its beer".

Vestager's team believe AB InBev "possibly" changed the packaging of beer cans/bottles to make it harder to sell them in other countries and limited access to Dutch and French retailers to rebates and key products to prevent them from bringing less expensive beer products to Belgium.

“AB Inbev's strong position on the Belgian beer market is not a problem," Vestager said. "However, we want to make sure that there are no anticompetitive obstacles to trade in beer within the European Single Market.

"Keeping out cheaper imports of its beer from neighbouring countries would be both against the interests of consumers and anti-competitive".

Meanwhile, AB received approval from South Africa competition authorities for the $108bn merger with SABMiller.

The deal, which was announced last year and will create the world’s largest brewer, is now on track to close in the second half of 2016.

AB InBev has now obtained approval in 16 jurisdictions but still needs approval from US and Chinese regulators.

“In the remaining jurisdictions where regulatory clearance is still pending, AB InBev will continue to engage proactively with the relevant authorities to obtain the necessary clearances as quickly as possible.”

At 1135 BST, AB InBev shares were up 2.4% to €117.10, while SABMiller was down 0.2% to 4,329.5p.