Constellation Brands has requested to be part of the US legal case aimed at blocking Anheuser-Busch InBev's proposed takeover of Grupo Modelo.
The US drinks company, which jointly controls Modelo's US import operations with the Mexican brewer, saw its share price plummet last week when the Department of Justice (DoJ) filed a lawsuit against A-B InBev. The global brewer has been accused by the DoJ of breaching anti-trust guidelines in the US, when it agreed to buy the remaining stake in Modelo that it does not already own.
In its legal motion today (8 February), Constellation has requested that its interests and those of the US JV, Crown Imports, "are represented as part of the US DOJ's complaint against the proposed A-B InBev acquisition of Modelo".
When A-B InBev announced its plan to buy Modelo, in June, Constellation was lined up to buy the Mexican firm out of the JV for US$1.85bn.
"The (DoJ) complaint directly impacts both companies (Constellation and Crown)", Constellation said. "This motion will seek to permit Constellation and Crown to have direct access to the legal proceedings."
Constellation used the announcement to reiterate the points it made in favour of the transaction last week.
A-B InBev followed Constellation's move with a statement today stating that it has filed a memorandum supporting Constellation's motion.
The DoJ lawsuit has been filed with the US District Court for the District of Columbia.
