...or is it a beer free market?  read more »

CFO-, CIO-designates named. SABMiller plc and Molson Coors Brewing Company named two executives for the proposed MillerCoors joint venture. Tim Wolf, the chief financial officer of Molson Coors, was named chief integration officer-designate of the JV, which is subject to..."Brew" Blog

- Molson Coors Brewing Co. (TSX:TAP) plans to eliminate up to 390 jobs in Canada, the United States and other parts of the world and outsource their duties to Hewlett-Packard Co.

The Canadian-American beer maker says the cuts will be divided about evenly among the company's three operating divisions: Coors Brewing Co. in Golden, Colo., Coors Brewers Ltd. in England and Molson Inc. in Toronto.

The cuts will be in human resources, information technology and finance.  read more »

A-B declines comment. The Wall Street Journal on Friday reported that the long-rumored combination of InBev and Anheuser-Busch is once again on the table. From the story: InBev and Anheuser already have held discussions, say people in the industry familiar with both brewers' thinking. Although reports of the talks surfaced as long as a year ago, they have become more serious, and a deal is possible this year, people in the industry say. The report came on the heels of A-B reporting fourth quarter earnings that missed Wall Street estimates. Equity income from A-Bs stake in Grupo Modelo, which long has buoyed A-Bs profits, declined during the quarter. Meanwhile, A-Bs increase in shipments and sales to retailers were driven primarily by its import portfolio the biggest part of which is the InBev European brand portfolio. Analysts say a combination between A-B and InBev makes sense. From a Bloomberg report: A merger of the two biggest beermakers by sales would make sense because they dominate different parts of the world, analysts say. It also would help them to stay in the lead as SABMiller Plc and Molson Coors Brewing Co. combine their U.S. units to compete more effectively in the country and Carlsberg A/S steps up its growth by taking over Scottish & Newcastle Plc with Heineken NV. From a strategic and geographical point of view, it would be a good move, Wim Hoste, an analyst at KBC Securities in Brussels, said by telephone. They have hardly any geographical overlaps, and merger news might be contagious. A-B has declined to comment. Beer Business Daily weighed in with this take: They may be talking, but A-B is going to drag its feet as long as possible and see if they can get their core brands growing again in 2008. Just a little growth in core brands creates a lot of profit, and the stock price goes up. Wall Street chatter like this always heats up with A-B's stock price takes a bath like it has the past few weeks and the dollar is so cheap, making it vulnerable. Let's wait and see. The Wall Street Journal story (subscription required) can be seen here . The Bloomberg story can be seen here . The Beer Business Daily home page is here .  read more »

Board members named. SABMiller plc and Molson Coors Brewing Company today announced the closing of the transaction to create MillerCoors.MillerCoors, which combines their U.S. and Puerto Rico operations, begins operating as a combined entity on July 1.As a unified company with a world-class board and leadership team in place, MillerCoors will be able to create tremendous opportunities for innovations in products and services that will allow us to drive profitable growth, Pete Coors, Chairman of MillerCoors, said in a release announcing the closing.  read more »

Substantial operations, investment in hometowns.MillerCoors announced today that it is placing its headquarters in Chicago even as it maintains substantial operations in Golden, Colo., and Milwaukee.MillerCoors picked Chicago for a variety of reasons. One of them: Picking a neutral site reflects the 50-50 governance structure agreed to by SABMiller plc and Molson Coors Brewing Company.  read more »

It's a funny thing about beer and Canada. Canadians have this relationship to beer that is based entirely around the idea - largely erroneous - that our beer is better. So much so that it becomes a principle of our national existence as this article reminds us:  read more »

Brew Blog's picks of stories from the beer business and beyond. Heres coverage of Molson Coors Brewing Companys first-quarter earnings from The Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg . Morgan Stanley and Credit Suisse weigh in as well. Anheuser-Busch's Ascent 54 -- a beer now marketed only in Colorado -- goes national this fall as Michelob Dunkel Weisse , reports the Rocky Mountain News. Beer Business Daily (subscription required), remarking on Coors success with packaging innovation, says: Here's a prediction: A-B is fast-tracking some package innovations of its own. Should be interesting to watch whether that develops. The Greensboro (N.C.) News and Record has an interesting story about craft beer dinners hosted by Foothills Brewing in Winston-Salem.  read more »

Some corporations donate dollars and others donate services. Molson Coors is donating fuel made mostly out of beer waste to the Democratic National Convention.

- The Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics already have an official diamond, an official bakery and even an official job-search website - and now there's an Olympic beer.

The Olympic organizing committee, known as VANOC, has announced that Molson will be the official beer supplier for the Games in a deal worth between $3 million and $15 million.  read more »