It’s Friday afternoon, time for beer (news)!

CNBC reports that the U.S. Department of Justice has ruled as part of an antitrust judgment that Belgian brewer Inbev NV (EBR:INB) must divest its ownership of Labatt USA before it can complete acquisition of American beermaker Anheuser-Busch (NYSE:BUD).  Rulings on the Anheuser-Busch acquisition by antitrust enforcement agencies in the U.K. and China are still pending

Anheuser-Busch shares had been trading upwards in anticipation of the deal’s closing, after Anheuser-Busch’s shareholders voted earlier this week to accept Inbev’s offer of $70 per share for the company.  Inbev was already pressed by the global credit crisis to obtain $52 billion in loans for the deal, and may have more difficulty with obtaining different terms if this new requirement affects the structure of the offer.

Labatt has been licensed by Anheuser-Busch to make and distribute Budweiser and Bud Light in Canada.  The conflict under U.S. antitrust law appears to be with Labatt USA and beer in upstate New York; the USDOJ maintains that beer prices would increase unfairly in that region if Inbev did not divest of Labatt USA.  Full details on the USDOJ’s ruling are still incomplete at the time of this post.

Shortly after Inbev’s first offer for Anheuser-Busch had been announced in June this year, union workers expressed concern about their contract with Anheuser-Busch; the contract for 5,000 workers at 12 plants across the country was renegotiated and settled last week, resulting in a $1,000 bonus for each worker as part of a 5-year, no-plant-closure deal.

Labatt makes not only Labatt beer, but specialty brands Bass, Beck’s, Boddingtons, Löwenbräu, and Stella Artois; it is also licensed to make Guinness in Canada.  Anheuser-Busch makes Michelob in addition to Bud Light and Budweiser brands.