AB InBev (ABI) has agreed to sell lager brands Peroni, Grolsch and Meantime to Japanese brewer Asahi for £2bn as part of its takeover of SABMiller (SAB).

The Budweiser and Stella owner has been thrashing out the details of the deal with Asahi since granting the Japanese business exclusivity in February after the tabling of a “binding” $2.55bn (£2bn) offer.

After completing an employee consultation process, Asahi has had its bid for the UK, Italian and Dutch businesses of SAB’s Grolsch and Peroni brands formally accepted by AB InBev.

The deal, which also includes the global rights to the Grolsch and Peroni brands, excluding the US, still needs approval from the European Commission and is also conditional on AB InBev completing its £71bn ‘mega-brew’ merger with SAB – expected to happen by the end of the year.

Asahi said in February that the deal showed its ambition to expand in Europe and become a global player.

Peroni notched up total sales of €348m in Italy in the year ended March 2015, Grolsch’s Dutch revenues came in at €297m for the same period, while the UK turnover was £261.6m. Meantime generated sales of £16.7m in 2014.

Asahi is Japan’s second largest brewer and the world’s tenth largest, with a global market share in 2014 of 1.2% – far behind AB InBev (pre-takeover) on 20.8% and SABMiller on 9.7% [Statista].

AB InBev announced in December it was offloading the Peroni, Grolsch and Meantime – the London brewery acquired by SAB in 2015 – to pre-empt any European competition concerns which could hinder the £71bn takeover of SAB.

The brewing giant also agreed, in March, to sell SAB’s stake in Chinese joint venture Snow Breweries for $1.6bn (£1.1bn) to appease regulators in the country. It followed a sale of SAB’s 58% interest in Miller Coors in the US to joint venture partner Molson Coors for $12bn.

Shares in AB InBev have jumped 2.7% today on news of the Asahi sale to €115.50.