Wikipedia
MillerCoors is a joint venture between SABMiller and Molson Coors Brewing Company, announced on October 9, 2007. The joint venture has the responsibility of selling brands such as Miller Lite, Miller High Life, Miller Genuine Draft, Coors, Coors Light, Molson Canadian, Leinenkugel's, Crispin Hard Cider Company, Saint Archer Brewing Company, Hop Valley Brewing Company, and Blue Moon in the United States, with the purpose of combining all of their US brewing operations to better compete against Anheuser-Busch InBev. The company is also tasked with brewing brands of beer that are owned by Pabst Brewing Company.
MillerCoors brews, markets and sells the MillerCoors portfolio of brands in the U.S. and Puerto Rico. MillerCoors is the second-largest beer company in America, capturing nearly 30 percent of U.S. beer sales. The company offers a variety of craft and import brands, including Blue Moon and Leinenkugel’s, through its Tenth and Blake division. MillerCoors operates eight major breweries in the U.S., as well as the Leinenkugel’s craft brewery in Chippewa Falls, WI, and two microbreweries, the 10th Street Brewery in Milwaukee and the Blue Moon Brewing Company at Coors Field in Denver.
Pete Coors is the chairman and Gavin Hattersley is Chief Executive Officer.
On September 14, 2015, Miller Coors announced that it would shut down its Eden, NC brewery in September, 2016 due to declining corporate sales. The company has newer plants in Virginia and Georgia that will serve the Eden plant's distribution area. In May 2016, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported that Pabst Brewing Company and Blue Ribbon Intermediate Holdings filed a lawsuit because Pabst wanted to continue making its beers in Eden.
U.S. antitrust regulators approved the joint venture on June 5, 2008. The venture was completed on June 30, 2008 and MillerCoors began operation as a combined entity on July 1, 2008. The combined venture is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. SABMiller and Molson Coors are still independently run.
In September of 2015, MillerCoors parent company SABMiller agreed to be bought by Belgian beer giant Anheuser-Busch InBev. If this deal gains antitrust regulatory agency's around the world's approval, Anheuser-Busch InBev has agreed to sell SABMillers 58% stake in MillerCoors.