Molson Coors Brewing has completed its previously-announced acquisition of SABMiller's stake in their US joint venture, MillerCoors.
The deal, initially signed late last year, closed the day after Anheuser-Busch InBev finalized its purchase of SABMiller.
The purchase, which is valued at $12bn, makes Molson Coors the world's third-largest brewer in value terms, behind AB InBev and Heineken.
Molson Coors has also secured full ownership of the Miller brand portolio outside of both the US and Puerto Rico.
The company has retained its rights to MillerCoors portfolio brands for the US and Puerto Rico. The brands include Redd’s as well as import brands like Peroni, Pilsner Urquell and Grolsch.
Molson Coors president and CEO Mark Hunter has called the acquisition completion as a historic one as the company is claimed to emerge as the third largest brewer in the world by merging it along with MillerCoors into a bigger, better entity.
As per the brewer, it is now well placed to execute growth strategy while delivering shareholder value in the long-term.
Hunter said: “As one company with an expanded portfolio of iconic brands and a highly focused leadership team, we intend to leverage our increased scale, resources and combined commercial experience to accelerate our First Choice agenda and deliver long term shareholder value.
“Having successfully operated the MillerCoors joint venture since 2008, we know the business well and have been working to ensure that today represents a seamless transition for our customers, partners, distributors and employees.”