Ill. law to force Busch to sell beer distributor stake by 2015

It’s official: Anheuser-Busch will have to sell its stake in City Beverage, the brewer’s largest local distributor.

Gov. Pat Quinn signed HB2606 into law Thursday afternoon. The legislation reinforces the state’s three-tier system, which requires the manufacture, distribution and retail sale of alcohol be split among three business interests. Most states have had similar systems in place since Prohibition.

Anheuser-Busch, owned by Leuven, Belgium-based Anheuser-Busch InBev, has until Jan 1, 2015, to sell the stake.

BDT Capital, an investment firm owned by Byron Trott, owns the remainder of City Beverage.

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