Reuters is reporting that SABMiller has overtaken rival InBev to become the world’s largest beer company. This is based on preliminary numbers from 2007, and assumes both SABMiller completes the expected purchase of Grolsch and the S&N breakup is approved. Additionally, Heineken’s acquisition of a portion of S&N will also net them the number three spot, displacing Anheuser-Busch who’ll fall to fourth. That will make the new top five look like this:
- SABMiller
- InBev
- Heineken
- Anheuser-Busch
- Carlsberg
The world beer market grew almost 5% in 2007, also based on the same preliminary figures, up from 3% the previous year.