InBev announces full control of Corona beer firm

Beer giant AB InBev said on Friday that it would buy the half of Mexican firm Grupo Modelo, maker of Corona, which it does not already own for $20.1 billion in cash (16.0 billion euros). The deal will be done on the basis of $9.15 per share, representing a premium of 30.0 percent on the price on June 22 before the first rumours of the transaction. InBev said it expected the operation to generate savings of more than $600 million per year. Grupo Modelo will retain its name, and its headquarters in Mexico. InBev, a Belgian-US group is one of the biggest brewers in the world. It said it would cover part of the cost by selling to US group Constellation Brands half of the capital in the US importer of Corona for $1.85 billion, a separate statement from Constellation Brands said. Constellation Brands already owns half of the importing firm, Crown Imports. AB InBev was created in 2008 in a deal worth $52 billion which brought together the Belgian-Brazilian company InBev with US company Anheuser-Busch.