Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Hogan Lovells have advised Belgian beer maker Anheuser-Busch InBev (AB InBev) on the $7.8 billion sale of its eastern European brands to Japanese brewer Asahi Group Holdings, which was represented by Allen & Overy.

ABInBev had acquired the sold-off brands – Pilsner Urquell from the Czech Republic, Tyskie and Lech from Poland, Dreher from Hungary and Ursus from Romania –  from its  $100 billion takeover of SABMiller, which was finalised in October. The sale is intended to help ABInBev secure clearance from competition regulators for the SABMiller deal, reported Reuters.

Freshfields partners Bruce Embley, Natascha Doll and Andreas von Bonin oversaw the transaction, which is subject to European Commission (EC) regulatory approval and is expected to close in the first half of 2017. 

Corporate partner Andrew Pearson headed the Hogan Lovells team while the A&O team was led by partners Richard Hough, Jim Ford, Alasdair Balfour and Trevor Borthwick.

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