(TDB) - The US Senate is to hold a hearing next week on the impact of beer giant AB Inbev’s £71bn takeover of rival brewer SABMiller.

Belgium-based AB Inbev, whose Anheuser-Busch arm has the single largest stake in the US beer market through its Budweiser and Bud Light brands, formally announced the takeover of SABMiller in November.

The merger will create one of the largest consumer goods producers in the world, with the new megabrewer expected to control one third of beer sales globally when it is completed in 2016.

The success of the takeover is dependent on receiving regulatory approval across the world, which is being aided by the companies’ offloading of brands to win the consent of competition authorities.

The hearing by the US Senate Judiciary Committee is scheduled to take place on Tuesday 8 December, it announced on Monday (30 November).

Called “Ensuring Competition Remains on Tap: The AB InBev/SABMiller merger and the State of Competition in the Beer Industry”