As a Bud Light boycott is brewing, some beer lovers are wondering if Miller is also owned by Anheuser-Busch.
This spring saw Bud Light partner with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney, sending her a case of personalized beers to celebrate her “365 days of womanhood.” In the midst of the growing anti-trans rhetoric in US media, this partnership didn’t go down well with some Bud Light fans. As such, there has been a push-back on beverage companies considered to be appealing to “wokeness“.
Those who are seeking to boycott Bud Light are now on a mission to find out which beer brands fall under the Anheuser-Busch umbrella.
IS MILLER OWNED BY ANHEUSER-BUSCH?
No, Miller is not owned by Anheuser-Busch but by Molson Coors. There was a window of time when the two brewing companies were set to merge, but this did not go through to an exact plan.
Currently, they are the two biggest breweries in the United States. Year after year, Anheuser-Busch and Molson Coors Beverage Company go head-to-head over their brewing figures.
Anheuser-Busch has just pipped Molson Coors to the top spot for the last few years, based on their sales volume.
WHAT HAPPENED TO THE ANHEUSER-BUSCH X MILLER MERGER?
In September 2015, Anheuser-Busch announced its intentions of acquiring SABMiller for $107 billion. This would have make the conglomerate the biggest brewery in the US. If the merger had gone through, they would have had a monopoly over the beer industry, with brands such as Busch, Michelob, Budweiser, Corona, Modelo, as well as Coors and all the Miller beers.
SABMiller, the parent company of MillerCoors, accepted Anheuser-Busch’s offer. But the deal could only go through with antitrust approval by regulatory agencies. The Department of Justice (DOJ) subsequently said the acquisition would only be permitted on the basis that SABMiller shifted all of its MillerCoors holdings to outside the US.
Previously, all the Miller and Coors beers in the US were majority owned by MillerCoors and minority owned by Molson Coors. Internationally, the brands are entirely owned by Molson Coors. As per the requirements of the merger, SABMiller sold the entire Miller portfolio to Molson Coors, a Canadian-based drink and brewing company.
FULL LIST OF MILLER BEERS
All Miller beers – Miller High Life, Miller Lite, Miller 64, Miller Genuine Draft, Miller Sharp’s – are now owned by Molson Coors.
The following beer brands also fall under the Molson Coors umbrella in North America:
- Blue Moon
- Carling
- Coors
- Foster’s
- George Killian’s Irish Red
- Granville Island Brewing
- Hamm’s
- Hop Valley
- Leinenkugel’s
- Milwaukee’s Best
- Molson
- Old Style Pilsner
- Peroni
- Pilsner Urquell
- Red Dog
- Steel Reserve
- Terrapin