The InBev and Anheuser-Busch Merger in China: A View from Economists
Global Competition Policy Magazine, December 2008
9 Pages Posted: 6 Jan 2009 Last revised: 8 Jan 2009
Date Written: December 11, 2008
Abstract
On November 18, 2008, China's Ministry of Commerce ("MOFCOM"), the Chinese merger control authority, approved InBev's takeover of Anheuser-Busch, with certain restrictions. The InBev Decision is the only published decision that MOFCOM has made to date following the implementation of China's Anti-Monopoly Law ("AML") in August 2008. As such, it has attracted the interest of international antitrust scholars and practitioners.
In this paper, we provide some background on the merger approval process in China and the InBev acquisition, and then discuss the implications of MOFCOM's decision and its other statements on merger policy for the future of merger control in China.
Keywords: Merger and Acquisition, Competition Policy, China
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