SABMiller is set to offload its American business for more than $10bn (£6.6bn) this week when it finally agrees terms on a merger with Anheuser- Busch InBev.

The Sunday Times writes that the Peroni maker is selling its 58% stake in Miller Coors to joint venture partner Molson Coors. The sale is seen as an essential step in winning competition watchdogs’ approval for Budweiser brewer AB InBev’s £70bn takeover of SAB. The Takeover Panel has twice extended the deadline for a firm agreement between SAB and AB InBev, but the papers says “barring a last-minute catastrophe” the announcement will be made on Wednesday. (The Sunday Times £)

Sainsbury’s is expected to post a 24% slide in pre-tax profits this week as it counts the cost of its price war. Although the grocer is the only one of the “Big Four” market leaders to have experienced a rise in sales, the cost of aggressive competition has put the group’s margins under pressure and cut profits by nearly a quarter. (The Telegraph)

Marks & Spencer chief Marc Bolland has given the first public confirmation that he plans to remain at the helm of the business for the foreseeable future – and will refuse any pay rise. Bolland told The Mail on Sunday he intends to ask the board to freeze his pay in the next financial year, confounding speculation that he might be replaced. His hard line on pay, which will be renegotiated in January and take him well into 2017, “suggests Bolland believes there is still some way to go on the turnaround plan”. (The Mail on Sunday)

Simon Watkins writing in the Mail on Sunday says M&S is finally catching on to the importance of profit margins. “It looks at last as if the future of Marks & Spencer is becoming clearer. Sales are falling and profits are rising. If that sounds like mixed news, then consider how much better it is that way round than sales rising and profits falling.” (The Mail on Sunday). Meanwhile, The Sunday Times writes: “The battle for Christmas sales is already under way — and M&S’s Marc Bolland is among the big players who cannot afford to lose it.” (The Sunday Times £)

Global fast-food chains, German supermarkets and Swedish flat-pack furniture stores have few things in common, but simplicity appears to be one of them. According to the Global Brand Simplicity Index, Google, McDonald’s, Burger King, KFC, Ikea, Netflix and German discount supermarkets lead the way among globally “simple” brands. (The Times £)

The FT writes that City prejudice against Primark owner Associated British Foods overlooks the stamina of multi-strand ventures. “Objections from financial professionals to diversified businesses would be more convincing — if their own sector was not littered with them… If [ABF CEO] Mr Weston should be rebuked for spreading his eggs across multiple baskets, so must Mr Buffett.” (The Financial Times £)

The week of “Black Friday” is set to attract one in five British shoppers this year, making it more popular than the week before Christmas for festive shopping, according to a new report. Between November 23 and 27, shoppers are expected to flock to high street and online stores offering deals and discounts. (The Telegraph)

Reliance on voluntary action by alcohol firms to tackle drink-related harm has been a failure, a hard-hitting report warns. The “public health responsibility deal” unveiled during the last government has resulted in broken promises and too little being done to reduce problems such as underage drinking, the scathing assessment by the Institute of Alcohol Studies (IAS) states. (The Guardian)

In an interview with The Telegraph, Greggs’ boss Roger Whiteside says global growth is ‘impossible’. Demand for the bakery’s trademark sausage rolls and pasties is limited to the UK, he admits. (The Telegraph)

The Mail on Sunday has an interview with Brewdog’s co-founder James Watt – concluding “shameless publicity stunts work”. “After a mere eight years in business, it sells more than 30million bottles and cans of beer a year and has been named Britain’s fastest growing food and drinks company three years in a row.” (The Mail on Sunday)

Virgin Wines has announced £4.3million profit on turnover of £40million for the year to July 2015. The introduction of its sendagift and WineBank schemes, where ‘interest’ is paid in wine vouchers, lifted its customer base by 40,000 in the 12 months to July 31. (The Daily Mail)

Supermarket Morissons’ efforts to encourage customers to buy wonkier-shaped vegetables have been branded “pathetic” by the chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall. The BBC show Hugh’s War on Waste last week saw the broadcaster giving away oversized and curvy parsnips outside a Morissons branch in Wimbledon, to highlight the food waste he says is caused by supermarkets’ excessively exacting cosmetic standards. (The Guardian)

Alex Brummer in the Daily Mail says the latest assault on a great Cadbury product, Fruit & Nut bars, tells us a great deal about the cultural vandalism that accompanies many overseas takeovers, as new owners seek to cut costs and globalise products with a distinct national flavour. But the damage is far deeper than that. (The Daily Mail)

Topics