Global brewing giant SABMiller and United States brewer Molson Coors have announced the closing of the transaction to combine their US and Puerto Rico operations to create MillerCoors.
MillerCoors, which will begin operating as a combined entity on July 1, will be a dynamic, brand-led US brewer with the scale, resources and distribution platform to succeed in the highly competitive marketplace.
“As a unified company with a world-class board and leadership team in place, MillerCoors will be able to create tremendous opportunities for innovations in products and services that will allow us to drive profitable growth,” said Pete Coors, chairperson of MillerCoors.
Graham Mackay, CEO of SABMiller, said: “[This] is an historic day in the American beer business, not only for the shareholders of both SABMiller and Molson Coors, but for MillerCoors consumers, employees, distributors and business partners. Now that the transaction has closed and MillerCoors is a reality, the strong leadership team we have put in place is ready to execute and realise the tremendous potential of this great organisation.”
Leo Kiely, CEO of MillerCoors, said: “MillerCoors will be entrepreneurial, with the ability to operate with speed and agility in the marketplace, backed by the powerful combined resources of two exceptionally successful companies.
“We will drive profitable growth and bring new energy to the US beer industry. Our focus now is to deliver on the $500-million in identified annualised cost synergies by improving sourcing across our eight major breweries, building a streamlined organisation and leveraging the scale of the new company.” — I-Net Bridge