AB-InBev scores a partial victory in Illinois distributor battle

A federal judge in Chicago ruled in September that Illinois discriminates against out-of-state brewers but he delayed enforcement of his order until 31 March 2011 to allow the Illinois legislature time to act on the matter, it was reported.

“We are pleased that the court found unlawful discrimination by the state, but disappointed with the court’s decision to further delay the answer to this question by waiting for the Illinois General Assembly to possibly act,” Gary Rutledge, AB-InBev’s General Counsel, said in a statement.

The purchase of the rest of City Beverage, estimated to cost between USD 150 million and USD 200 million, would give AB-InBev greater control over sales in one of the nation’s largest urban markets where its brands are not dominant and put it in a better position to compete with rival MillerCoors.

About half of the states in the U.S. allow beer makers to distribute their own beer and currently AB-InBev owns about a dozen of their own. Over the past few years brewers have shown an appetite for acquiring distributors (read: cut them out) in order to increase their own profits.