Say uncle, AmBev

In a separate investigation SDE will decide if AmBev’s promotion of its Puerto del Sol and Puerto del Mar brands around the same time Kaiser introduced the Sol brand in Brazil was meant to confuse consumers. Sol is one of the best selling Mexican beer brands owned by FEMSA.

AmBev, a subsidiary of Anheuser-Busch InBev, dominates the Brazilian beer market with an average of 70 percent of sales, according to SDE.

Kaiser’s complaint is backed by research by Merrill Lynch. Its authors found out that between 15 percent and 20 percent of AmBev’s sales in Brazil are the direct consequence of AmBev enjoying exclusivity contracts with retailers.