DENVER—The headquarters of the proposed joint venture between Molson Coors and SAB Miller will not likely be in either Denver or Milwaukee, where the two companies have strong ties, Molson Coors Vice Chairman Pete Coors said.
“There’s a fairly strong sense a neutral site would be important,” Coors told the Rocky Mountain News in an interview published Wednesday. “If you pick one city over another, people in the other city will say, ‘They’re running the deal.’ I don’t think that’s particularly healthy.”
He said it would be “totally speculative” to list possible locations but added the options could include Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas and Kansas City.
“There’s a lot of options available to us. I don’t know where it’s going to end up,” he said.
Molson Coors Brewing Co. and SAB Miller PLC announced in October they would form a joint venture called MillerCoors. The deal still requires regulatory approval.
Molson Coors, based in Denver and Montreal, is the No. 2 brewer in the United States. SAB Miller, parent of Milwaukee-based Miller Brewing Co., is No. 3. The combined MillerCoors would still be second to St. Louis-based Anheuser-Busch Cos.
SAB Miller is based in London.
Molson Coors spokeswoman Kabira Hatland said no formal review of potential headquarters cities would begin until regulators sign off on the joint venture.
Molson Coors Chief Executive Officer Leo Kiely has said he expects regulatory approval by midsummer.
Miller Brewing issued a written statement saying the process of choosing a headquarters hasn’t begun and no city has been ruled out.
