CUB wins back Corona and Stella Artois from Lion
Carlton United Breweries (CUB) has won back the right to import Corona and Stella Artois beer into Australia.
CUB used to import the beers until it was acquired by South African brewer SAB Miller in 2011. A condition of the acquisition was that it had to give up importation rights to Corona and Stella Artrois.
Lion has since been importing the beers but this week its parent company, Japan’s Kirin Holdings, confirmed it would no longer be importing the beer into Australia due to the recent acquisition of SAB Miller by Anheuser-Busch InBev (AB InBev).
Lion expects to receive a payment between AUD $250 million – AUD $300 million for giving up its importation rights.
AB InBev’s acquisition of SAB Miller was approved by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission in May 2016.
AB InBev is the world’s largest brewer and SAB Miller is the second largest. Details of the acquisition are still being arranged however it is expected to cost AB InBev US $108 billion.
Coopers keen to pick up new brands
Meanwhile, Australia’s largest independent brewer, Coopers, has signaled it would potentially like to pick up a few brands itself due to the AB InBev acquisition of SAB Miller.
Speaking to The Australian newspaper, Managing Director of Coopers, Glen Cooper, said Coopers was well placed to pick up any extra brands due to its spread across Australia and its history of teaming up with foreign brands such as Carlsberg.
