Interbrew Merges With Ambev

The Belgian company Interbrew acquires a 57% stake in Brazil's Ambev to create the world's largest brewer and take on the U.S. giant Anheuser-Busch. Interbrew had faced criticism in the past for overpaying for deals and then failing to make expected savings from the merging operations. Nevertheless, both companies were still optimistic as they would now have a presence in 140 countries which would help the new group grow at an unprecedented rate.