Japanese beer giant Asahi has completed the acquisition of Miller Brands UK, creating Asahi UK.
The newly company, which will include Peroni Nastro Azzurro, Grolsch and Meantime beers, is part of the company's European strategy to lead the development of the continent’s Super Premium Beer sector.
It will be business as usual despite the name and the ownership change according to the Japanese brewer.
Customers, suppliers or consumers will not be affected at all with Asahi continuing to be custodians of the Peroni Nastro Azzuro, Pilsner Urquell, Koze and St Stefanus brands in the UK and Ireland.
As per Japanese brewer, Asahi UK along with the extended portfolio will consolidate its offering while widening Europe’s access to a superior line of imported beer brands.
Asahi UK managing director Gary Haigh said: “Peroni Nastro Azzurro has been a key driver in the growth of the UK Super Premium sector which is now worth £1.3bn and accounts for more than a quarter of the London beer market.
“With the backing of the Asahi Group we will be able to continue our strategies for the brands, building on their success and allowing our customers to benefit from meeting the demands of UK consumers for high quality beer brands.”
Gary reports into Asahi Europe CEO Hector Gorosabel.
In April, Asahi acquired the Grolsch, Peroni and Meantime Beer for $2.9bn following Anheuser-Busch InBev’s offloading of the brands to clear regulatory hurdles in its takeover of SABMiller.
