Reports are popping up in Bahamian newspapers about a growing feud between the privately-owned Bahamian Brewery and Beverage Company (BBB), based in Freeport on Grand Bahama island, and its big rival Commonwealth Brewery, which is located in Nassau on New Providence island.

The US company of the Krones Group, Krones Inc. in Franklin/Wisconsin (USA), and Krones AG, Neutraubling, Germany, see a possibility of resolving the legal disputes running in the US since October 2008 within the framework of the ongoing settlement talks. The subject-matter relates to proceedings involving various parties in the US.

Anheuser-Busch (A-B), a subsidiary of AB-InBev, can retain its minority ownership stake in one of Chicago's largest beer distributors, Illinois liquor regulators ruled on 31 October 2012, allowing the brewer to have some control over its sales. However, they said no to A-B’s plan to completely take over the distributor City Beverage.

Is AB-InBev running the risk of doing a Schlitz with its Beck’s brand in the United States? In the early 1970s, the then number two brewer in the U.S. changed the brewing process for its flagship Schlitz brand. The executives and company were making money and they thought all was well but then the brand dropped and never came back. Finally, in 1982 Schlitz surrendered to an offer by rival brewer Stroh.

In fine spirits

Drinks companies are raising glasses to the American consumers. Their homes may be worth less than their cars and their jobs prospects dim, but when it comes to trimming the fat from their budgets, Americans would rather eat less than drink less. In fact, they continue to show an unabated interest in high-end spirits. How better to enjoy a presidential campaign that’s turned into a tit-for-tat-mudfest on the telly than with a glass of booze?

Where’s the leak? According to rumour, the U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) may seek to block AB-InBev’s proposed acquisition of Mexican brewer Grupo Modelo.

Beer in a blue bottle? Whatever turns you on. Apparently, AB-InBev’s launch of the higher-alcohol Bud Light Platinum in a blue bottle and Bud Light Lime "Lime-A-Rita," a Margarita cocktail-taste-alike flavoured malt beverage in a can, were the most successful debuts this year in terms of volumes. As AB-InBev reported, in the first six months of 2012, Bud Light Platinum sold over 1.2 million hl.

Did Fidel Castro even spare a thought on 15 October this year that his soldiers botched the takeover of Bacardi’s Cuban assets exactly 52 years ago? After the Communist government announced that it was nationalising sugar mills and rum factories – including the island’s most famous business, Bacardi – Cuban soldiers immediately headed to Bacardi’s office in Havana with a one-page official document that gave them control. However, the soldiers made a crucial mistake. They went not only to the wrong building but also to the wrong city.

Although a federal judge dismissed an American Indian tribe’s lawsuit on 2 October 2012 that blamed brewers and several stores for chronic alcoholism on an impoverished South Dakota reservation, the judge also said that the case belonged in a state court, thus giving a subtle moral support to the tribe’s claims, U.S. media report.

By rule of thumb, private equity companies like to seek an exit after three to four years. That’s why it should not come as a surprise that North American Breweries, which sells Genesee and Labatt beer in the U.S., is rumoured to have been put up for sale by its owner, private equity firm KPS Capital Partners, media reported on 6 September 2012. Representatives from KPS were quick to refute the allegation.