The judge overseeing the court fight between the U.S. Justice Department and Anheuser-Busch InBev over its Grupo Modelo deal approved a stay in court proceedings on Tuesday to give the two sides more time to reach an accord. Last week the two sides asked for an extension of a stay, which began in February, in order to wrap up an "agreement in principle" that would end litigation.The U.S. government filed a lawsuit on Jan. 31 to stop AB InBev, the world's largest brewer, from buying the 50 percent of Grupo Modelo it does not already own for $20.1 billion. The Justice Department said the deal could mean higher U.S. beer prices.To win U.S. antitrust approval for the deal, AB InBev first offered to sell its 50 percent share in Modelo's U.S. distributor, Crown Imports, to Constellation Brands, the world's largest branded wine company.When that was not enough to satisfy the U.S. government, AB InBev said in February it would sell Modelo's Piedras Negras brewery in Mexico near the U.S border to Constellation for $2.9 billion and would grant Constellation the U.S. rights to Corona and other Modelo brands.
Anheuser Busch Inbev SA is a Belgium-based brewing company. Shares of BUD fell by 0.73% or $-0.72/share to $98.51. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $64.99 and as high as $101.59. On average, 1889360 shares of BUD exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 240316.
Constellation Brands, Inc. is a wine company. The Company is a marketer of imported beer in the United States. Shares of STZ fell by 0.25% or $-0.12/share to $48.45. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $18.50 and as high as $49.23. On average, 4966080 shares of STZ exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 92004.
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