Turcan Cazac has reported a successful application to the Moldovan Competition Council for clearance in that country of the proposed acquisition by Belgium-based beer giant Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV of SABMiller plc, which would combine the two largest brewers. According to Turcan Cazac, "the merged entity will sell twice as much beer and earn four times more profit than Heineken, currently the third largest brewer.”
AB Inbev's brands include Corona, Stella Artois, and Budweiser, while SABMiller owns brands such as Miller, Peroni, Pilsner Urquell, and Grolsch.
The European Commission cleared the merger in May 2016. Overall AB InBev — assisted globally by Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer — notified the merger control authorities in some 30 jurisdictions worldwide.
Under the Moldovan Competition Law of 2012 an economic concentration needs to be cleared by the country’s Competition Council if: (1) the combined worldwide turnover of the undertakings concerned exceeds MDL 25 million (about EUR 1.13 million), and (2) there are at least two undertakings concerned in the deal, each of which obtained on the territory of the Republic of Moldova an aggregate turnover that exceeds MDL 10 million (about EUR .45 million) in the year preceding the merger. Therefore, non-Moldovan companies parties proposing an economic concentration may be subject to Moldovan competition clearance based solely on their sales in the Moldovan market.
Turcan Cazac asserts that “this is the first merger ever that is notified to and cleared by the Moldovan Competition Council and whose parties are not Moldova-based companies."
The firm’s mandate was handled by Associate Ana Galus, who heads the firm’s competition law practice. The team also included Partner Octavian Cazac and Associates Vadim Taigorba and Olga Saveliev.
