Peroni, Grolsch and Meantime beers are set to get a new Japanese owner following SABMiller’s merger with Anheuser-Busch InBev.
ABInBev has accepted an offer from Asahi to buy the premium beer brands and related businesses in Italy, the Netherlands, the UK and elsewhere for about £1.8bn.
The sale depends on ABInBev, which brews Stella Artois and Corona, closing its proposed tie-up with SABMiller (LON:SAB) as planned this November.
ABInBev is selling the beers to allay regulators’ competition concerns over the deal, which will create the world’s biggest brewer.
SAB bought London’s Meantime brewery last year to cash in on British drinkers’ growing appetite for craft beer.
Asahi said the move would boost its presence in Europe and enable it to become a global player.
It is the latest Japanese company to make a foray into Europe as the Pacific country's firms seek a greater global presence outside their home markets.
In food and consumer goods, Mizkan has bought household names such as Branston and Haywards pickles from Premier Foods (LON:PFD) and Suntory has snapped up Lucozade and Ribena from GlaxoSmithKline (LON:GSK).
Hitachi has also set up a new train factory near Durham and bought Italian tram maker Ansaldo STS last year.