The SABMiller takeover of AB InBev will lead to less choice and higher prices for consumers, according to a leading expert.
John Colley, of Warwick Business School, said cost rationalisation will mean substantial redundancies amongst SAB Miller staff and higher costs passed on to consumers because of the lack of competition.
Although the merger is likely to line the pockets of the shareholders, Colley said customers will not see any benefit as “greater brewer market power is more likely to result in restricted choice and higher prices”.
It will also lead to big job losses and a lack of choice in pubs, a trend which I highlighted here in the Huffington Post.
“AB InBev will reduce SAB Miller’s head office in South Africa to a regional office and close the regional structure including the London offices. In the brewing game economies of scale and scope are dominant factors together with control of distribution where competitors can be ‘locked out.'”
