Beer: Coors and Miller to brew together under MillerCoors

The No.2 and No.3 beer brewers in the U.S. will merge under a new company called MillerCoors.

Beer: Coors and Miller to brew together under MillerCoors Hold on tight Budweiser drinkers, there is a new kid in town - MillerCoors. Miller Brewing Co. and Coors Brewing Co. announced a joint venture between the US #2 Miller and #3 Coors domestic operations and the new company will go by the name MillerCoors. The new joint venture will make for a real strong competition against the U.S. number one brewer Anheuser-Busch Cos. but could result in some job cuts in the administrative departments of Miller Brewing Co. For now there will be no plant closures - all six breweries of Miller and the two breweries of Coors will stay open, but overlapping administrative functions will equal to job-cuts at Miller. Still, it is estimated that the new joint venture will have 29% of the U.S. market, compared to the Anheuser-Busch's 48%.

Pete Coors, vice chairman of Molson Coors Brewing Co., will be chairman of MillerCoors and Graham Mackay, chief executive officer of SABMiller Plc, will be vice chairman of the new company. Each of the parent companies of Miller and Coors will hold 50% stake in MillerCoors and will hold five chairs each on the board of directors.

Published on 10/09/2007