Budweiser-Corona merger hit with antitrust lawsuit

Just in time for the Super Bowl, the US government is fighting for your right to drink cheap beer. The Justice Department sued today to stop a merger that would put Corona, Budweiser and Stella Artois all under the ownership of one company.

In the original deal, announced last summer, Anheuser-Busch agreed to pay $20.1 billion to buy control of the Grupo Modelo of Mexico, the New York Times reported. The deal would allow Anheuser-Busch to add Corona to its list of popular brands. 

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But the Justice Department argued in its lawsuit today that the merger would reduce competition in the beer industry, as it would give the new company control of 46 percent of annual beer sales, BBC News reported. 

"This is the sort of product that matters to consumers," assistant attorney general Bill Baer told Agence France Presse "We believe the acquisition is a bad deal for US consumers."