Anheuser Busch InBev has reportedly raised its offer to take over SABMiller to $103.5 billion. For all the reports of micro brews taking over the beer market with an artisanal push from self-conscious, palate-pure hipsters, Macro Brews apparently still look pretty profitable. After all, there’s a limit to how many pumpkin-infused gluten-free all-natural organic slow-sipping IPAs the market will bear, while the thirst for Miller Light seems unquenchable. (Miller Light is an SABMiller brand.)
If the two massive companies do merge, the new conglomerate would control more than 70 percent of the global beer market, including malt beverages and increasingly popular ciders. AB InBev especially likes SABMiller’s large footprint in Africa, where craft brews don’t show significant impact.
