Brewers struggling to slake thirst for mergers

BRUSSELS, (AFP) — The global beer industry has a growing thirst for mergers as brewers struggle to cope with falling consumption in traditional big markets and soaring prices of raw materials.

After successive waves of mergers in recent years, Belgian-Brazilian group InBev, Britain-based SABMiller, Anheuser-Busch of the United States and Dutch group Heineken have emerged as the leading international brewers.

However, InBev announced plans to reduce the ranks of global brewing giants even further last week with a 46-billion-dollar offer to buy Anheuser-Busch in a bid to create an unrivaled brewing powerhouse.

If the deal closes, the combined company would have annual sales of 36 billion dollars, well ahead of the next biggest brewer, SABMiller with 21 billion dollars.

SABMiller merged its US operations with Molson Coors in October and in January Heineken and Carlsberg teamed up in a joint bid for British brewer ...