LISTEN: Anheuser-Busch to Close Three U.S. Breweries

Anhueser-Busch’s U.S. brewing footprint will soon be reduced by three facilities in moves that will impact more than 400 workers, according to reports.The brewer of Bud Light and Michelob Ultra has sold its plant in Newark, New Jersey, to property developer the Goodman Group, and will close down other breweries in Merrimack, New Hampshire, and Fairfield, California, early next year.A company spokesman said that the production at those plants will be moved to its other U.S. breweries, and that the moves would allow it to “invest even more” in its remaining operations. The brewer has touted a $300 million dollar spending push at its U.S. facilities in recent months, including updates at hubs in Georgia, upstate New York, Houston and its flagship St. Louis brewery, among others.The some 475 workers at the affected plants will be offered full-time positions at other Anheuser-Busch facilities, the company said, along with relocation stipends and training.Each of the facilities set for closure, however, date back decades in their respective cities. The Fairfield and Merrimack breweries were established 49 and 54 years ago, respectively, while the Newark brewery, established in 1951, is Anheuser-Busch’s oldest outside St. Louis.