MillerCoors Combo Shouldn't Nip BUD

"The combination of Coors and Miller creates a more rational and stronger No. 2 player in the U.S. market, especially for the pricing environment," said Citigroup analyst Bonnie Herzog in a note to clients. "As a result, we anticipate that this transaction should be more neutral for Anheuser-Busch and could accelerate [its] eventual combination with InBev."

InBev NV S.A., a Belgian company that is the world's largest brewer by volume, imports a number of beers into the U.S., like Beck's and Stella Artois. It's long been rumored to be a merger partner for Anheuser-Busch.

Shares of Anheuser-Busch recently were down 75 cents, or 1.4%, to $51.28, while shares of MolsonCoors were up $4.31, or 8.5%, to $55.14.

Anheuser-Busch, a holding of Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A), has suffered from slow growth in recent years, but it's a cash-generating machine and the company is making investments in overseas markets in an effort to find growth abroad.

The company owns a 51% stake in the Mexico-based brewer, Grupo Modelo, as well as a 27% stake Tsingtao, the Chinese brewing giant.

"They've been very shrewd about making investments in China and other growth markets, and over time, you'll see Anheuser-Busch find more growth outlets in new products and the like," says Reilly. "The stock won't be a rocket, but overtime, it should generate attractive returns."

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