Court Dismisses Antitrust Suit Over Beer Brewery Merger Deal

In Edstrom et al. v. Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV, Northern District of California Judge Maxine Chesney dismissed a group of consumers’ antitrust suit against Anheuser-Busch InBev over its $20.1 billion acquisition of Grupo Modelo.  In June 2012, Anheuser-Busch announced plans to acquire Modelo.  The DOJ sued to block the deal, in fear that removing Modelo from the market would make it easier for the remaining breweries to engage in price fixing.  In response, Anheuser-Busch sold off Modelo’s assets to Constellation Brands Inc.  Following the sale, a group of nine beer drinkers sued Anheuser-Busch, alleging that there was a significant threat that Constellation is Anheuser-Busch’s “puppet,” so it would not serve as a competitive restraint against Anheuser-Busch, and the companies would collude to fix prices.  The court dismissed plaintiffs’ suit, holding that plaintiffs failed to present any factual allegations to support their claims of price-fixing or that Constellation is controlled by Anheuser-Busch.  The court also held that plaintiffs’ claims of future price-fixing fail because the threat of future conduct does not constitute a claim under the Sherman Act.

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