Asahi buys beer brands from Anheuser-Busch InBev

Asahi will buy a group of eastern European beer brands from Anheuser-Busch InBev for €7.3bn, boosting its presence in the region in the largest overseas beer deal by a Japanese brewer.

AB InBev agreed to sell brands including Pilsner Urquell from the Czech Republic, Poland’s Tyskie and Lech, Hungary’s Dreher and Romania’s Ursus to ease clearance from competition regulators for its €94.5bn takeover of SABMiller, finalised in October.

The acquisition, seen closing in the first half of next year, would be Asahi’s biggest deal, building on its €2.55bn purchase of SABMiller’s western European brands Peroni and Grolsch.