Dutch beer brand Grolsch is now the property of Japanese beer brewer Asahi, which also purchased Peroni and Meantime. Owner SABMiller had to sell these brands to enable the merger with AB InBev.
2.55 billion euro
AB InBev had been looking for a buyer for a while, in order to make things easier to get the SABMiller merger approved. It was revealed in February that Japanese Asahi was interested in Grolsch, Peroni and Meantime and AB InBev quickly accepted a 2.55 billion euro bid for these three brands. Now, the deal has been finalized and the brands now have a new owner.
SABMiller acquired Grolsch in 2008 and paid more than 800 million euro for the beer. The goal was to increase its international growth, but that never fully materialized. Its net profit apparently even dropped a third last year.
Not only Asahi was interested: Thai brewer Chang, Spanish San Miguel and the Swiss Jacobs family also expressed an interested, but in the end, Japanese Asahi claimed the prize.
