About

The global businesses of Carlton & United Breweries’ (CUB) parent company, SABMiller, was acquired by AB InBev in October 2016 to create the world’s largest beer company in a deal worth over £100bn in one of the top five largest corporate merger transactions in history. The legal function at CUB was instrumental in various elements associated with the merger, particularly with obtaining pre-merger clearances in various countries. After the merger they were involved in various renegotiations and restructuring of contracts and arrangements as part of integrating the two businesses together. As a result of the merger CUB’s respective legal department and the corporate affairs department merged together to become a combined “legal and corporate affairs department”. Explaining the reason behind the change, Craig Katerberg, vice president – legal and corporate affairs (Asia Pacific South) says ‘legal and corporate affairs issues for a company such as ours are so intertwined that having one department manage them as a collective has really led to improved efficiencies and much better results when the lawyer and the corporate affairs professionals put their combined skills together for the greater good of the company’. Katerberg joined CUB to head the legal and corporate affairs department shortly after the merger was finalised and has been praised for bringing ‘an exceptionally fresh perspective to the team’. Another impact of the landmark merger on the legal and corporate affairs department is the regional scope of CUB’s businesses that it now supports. CUB’s business in Melbourne became the head office for a newly created Asia Pacific South Zone which comprises of Australia, India, South East Asia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands. Away from the merger, the department recently resolved a four year investigation by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) who made a finding of no-action for alleged anti-competitive contracting practises. As a result of direct lobbying with government and regulators, CUB Legal has been able to amend Australia’s Food Standards Code to permit gluten content claims to be made in respect of beer, which was a key claim that CUB’s marketing team was looking to make and which would have otherwise been restricted. Today the legal and corporate affairs department is made up of 17 members including eight lawyers and six corporate affairs professionals. Legal director Daniel Spirdonoff has been highlighted for ‘bringing great energy to the team during the merger’ as was legal counsel Megan Comerford, for ‘jumping into all projects with enthusiasm and consistently delivering results time and time again’.