Let’s just say they’re trying to resolve the merger dispute over a couple of cold ones.
The US Justice Department and Anheuser-Busch InBev, embroiled in a court fight over whether AB InBev can expand its stake in Mexican brewer Grupo Modelo, asked for a delay until March 19, according to a court filing.
AB InBev, the world’s largest brewer, plans to buy the 50 percent of Modelo it doesn’t already own. It said last week that it was willing to sell Modelo’s Piedras Negras brewery in Mexico, near the US border, to Constellation and grant it perpetual rights for Corona and other Modelo brands in the US, at a cost of $2.9 billion.
A delay in the court proceedings would give the feds’ antitrust division time to assess the AB InBev offer to see if it resolves the government’s concerns, the filing said.