Anheuser-Busch InBev is reportedly close to closing a $12 billion buyout of Grupo Modelo. ABInBev already owns a 50 per-cent stake in Modelo.
In addition to securing full control of the Mexican brewer, which has been growing a few percentage points a year, the deal could also give AB the valuable distribution rights to Corona, the largest U.S. imported beer brand, when the current contract expires in two years.
Mexico is the world’s sixth-largest beer market and the fourth most profitable. Modelo has a 50-percent-plus market share of the Mexican beer market with Heineken owning most of the remaining marketshare.