Industry

Asahi purchases SABMiller’s beer brands for $7.8 billion

Asahi Group Holdings has agreed to buy SABMiller’s eastern European assets, including Pilsner Urquell, from Anheuser-Busch InBev for 7.3 billion euros ($7.8 billion), as the Budweiser maker ties up loose ends from the combination of the world’s two biggest brewers.

Asahi expects the acquisition to close in the first half of 2017, and is positioning its overseas business as its growth engine as it establishes itself as a global player, the Tokyo-based brewer said Tuesday.

The deal further strengthens Asahi’s foothold in Europe after Japan’s largest brewer agreed to pay 2.55 billion euros for AB InBev’s Peroni and Grolsch brands earlier this year.

BLOOMBERG