USA & Canada: AB InBev, Molson Coors Brewing dodge antitrust suit over imports to Canada

AB InBev and Molson Coors Brewing don’t have to face revived claims over their alleged scheme to corner the market for high-volume US beer imports to Ontario, a Wisconsin federal judge ruled.

The lawsuit accused the brewing giants of conspiring to get Ontario’s provincial government to permit only Brewers Retail, a distribution consortium they control, to sell packages larger than six-packs, reported Bloomberg. BRI operates the Beer Store chain, which has a provincewide monopoly on high-quantity beer sales.

When Ontario considered letting state-run liquor stores expand beer sales beyond six-packs, AB InBev and Molson allegedly threatened a boycott. “The unfair agreement with The Beer Store puts the interests of three large global brewers ahead of Ontario consumers, taxpayers and small businesses. It’s a bad deal for people in Ontario who want more choice and convenience, and it’s deeply unfair to businesses who want to compete in this sector,” Ontario’s minister of finance, Vic Fedeli said in a statement at the time.

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