Coors Brewing Co

The Justice Department said its antitrust division had ended its investigation of Molson Coors Brewing Co. and SABMiller's proposed joint venture to market and distribute beer in the U.S. The division concluded that the joint venture would not reduce competition. Milwaukee-based Miller and Denver-based Molson Coors announced in October that they would form MillerCoors, aimed at helping them compete against Anheuser-Busch Cos., which has about half the U.S. market.

MillerCoors has said goodbye to Zima. The joint venture between SABMiller's U.S. unit and Molson Coors Brewing Co. told distributors in a letter that production of the malt liquor beverage was discontinued Oct. 10. Chief Marketing Officer Andy England attributed the decision to weakness in the "malternative" segment and declining consumer interest. He said Zima inventories would probably last through December.

Golden city employees went door to door, ordering residents to stop all outdoor watering or face strict penalties. The city, which lost nearly half its supply this week when a court forced it to stop diverting water meant for neighboring towns downstream, also threatened to suspend residents' water service if they violate the restrictions. Colorado is suffering its worst drought on record, leading to disputes between communities over limited water supplies.

MillerCoors executives say the headquarters for their new joint venture will be in Chicago. The company chose not to settle in Milwaukee, where Miller Brewing Co. is based, or in Golden, Colo., the home of Molson Coors Brewing Co. MillerCoors said early on that it wanted to settle in a neutral site, but executives pledged to maintain a strong presence in each hometown. The company said it would invest $50 million in the Milwaukee brewery to increase production and pour $100 million into the Golden plant to reconfigure operations.

Adolph Coors Co.'s Coors Brewing Co. is stopping advertisements on CBS television that claim its Aspen Edge beer tastes better than Michelob Ultra, according to Anheuser-Busch Cos., which makes Michelob. Coors decided to pull the ads after Anheuser-Busch filed a challenge with CBS, Anheuser-Busch said. It said the ads were misleading and made "unsubstantiated claims about consumers' taste preference." Viacom Inc.'s CBS and General Electric Co.'