????席卷全球的收購(gòu)狂潮在上周三達(dá)到了新的高度。一大早,，啤酒巨頭百威英博宣布有意競(jìng)購(gòu)另一家世界級(jí)啤酒企業(yè)南非米勒,。對(duì)此，全球的反壟斷專家都大發(fā)噓聲,。他們聲稱,，一旦交易成功，全球啤酒市場(chǎng)基本上就將掌握在一家公司手中,。根據(jù)國(guó)際研究機(jī)構(gòu)Euromonitor的數(shù)據(jù),，百威英博屆時(shí)在全球的市場(chǎng)占有率會(huì)高達(dá)30%。

????不過(guò),，屆時(shí)還將出現(xiàn)另一個(gè)更讓人擔(dān)憂的問(wèn)題。如果這次交易獲得批準(zhǔn)（目前暫時(shí)不考慮股權(quán)被強(qiáng)制過(guò)戶的情況）,，全球究竟有多少食品和飲料的消費(fèi)會(huì)掌握在三個(gè)人的手中,？

????巴西私募公司3G的名稱代表三位主要合伙人：豪爾赫?保羅?雷曼、卡洛斯?阿爾貝托?斯庫(kù)彼拉和馬塞爾?赫爾曼?泰列斯,。他們就是百威英博競(jìng)購(gòu)南非米勒的幕后推手,。百威英博目前控制著百威,、時(shí)代和科羅娜等多個(gè)知名啤酒品牌。此外,，他們?cè)谶^(guò)去五年中收購(gòu)了好幾家私有和上市食品公司（其中部分收購(gòu)是與沃倫?巴菲特合作完成的）,，其中包括亨氏、卡夫,、漢堡王和Tim Horton,。這六家公司加起來(lái)的收入約有1000億美元，市值總和高達(dá)3500億美元,。這讓3G成為了全球最大的食品和飲料產(chǎn)品集團(tuán),，比收入650億美元的百事可樂(lè)公司還要大得多。食品和飲料業(yè)咨詢公司Bevmark的主管湯姆?皮爾科表示：“這幾個(gè)人是要掌控世界嗎,？嗯,，顯然如此?！?/p>

????當(dāng)然,，3G沒(méi)有完全控制這些公司，所以你無(wú)法把他們看作一個(gè)公司實(shí)體,。不過(guò)3G已經(jīng)成為上述各家公司中實(shí)力最強(qiáng)的團(tuán)體,，遠(yuǎn)超任何普通股東。他們有必要的資金來(lái)做他們想做的事情,，到目前為止,，這似乎還僅限于削減成本或是整合生產(chǎn)。

????在這個(gè)時(shí)代,，消費(fèi)者都在遠(yuǎn)離大品牌的食物,，但3G依舊在持續(xù)發(fā)展。他們似乎想用規(guī)模來(lái)應(yīng)對(duì)消費(fèi)者對(duì)大品牌的抵制,。但這對(duì)消費(fèi)者的選擇權(quán)來(lái)說(shuō)究竟意味著什么呢,？（財(cái)富中文網(wǎng)）

????譯者：嚴(yán)匡正

????審校：任文科

????The global takeover frenzy hit a new high on Wednesday, with the news this morning that beer giant AB InBev has made a play for SABMiller. Already, antitrust experts around the globe are tut-tutting that too much of the world’s beer market could come under one umbrella should the deal go through, with an estimated 30% of global market share coming under the control of AB InBev, according to Euromonitor.

????But another, possibly more worrisome question comes to mind. If this deal is approved, leaving any forced divestitures aside for the moment, exactly how much of the world’s food and beverage consumption will be concentrated in the hands of three men?

????Brazilian private equity firm 3G—named for the three main partners, Brazilians Jorge Paolo Lemann, Carlos Alberto Sicupira, and Marcel Herrmann Telles—is behind the move for SABMiller, as it was for the rollup of AB InBev, which, in addition to Anheuser Busch, controls brands like Budweiser, Stella Artois, and Corona already. But 3G has also, in the past five years, taken private—and then, in some cases, public—several other large food companies (some in partnership with Warren Buffett) including Heinz (2013), Kraft (2015), Burger King (2010), and Tim Horton’s (2014). Together, estimated revenue for the six companies is around $100 billion, with an estimated combined market cap of $350 billion. That would make it one of the largest combination of food and beverage products in the world—much larger than $65 billion-in-revenues PepsiCo, for example. Says Tom Pirko, director of Bevmark, which advises the food and beverage industry: “Are these guys taking over the world? Well, sure.”

????To be sure, 3G doesn’t control 100% of these companies, so you cannot think of them as a single corporate entity. But 3G is the most powerful group at each of those companies—more so than any common shareholder, to be sure. It has the wherewithal to do what it wishes, which, so far, seems to be cutting costs and consolidating production. (See, for example, our article Squeezing Heinz or this, from Fortune, on 3G exec Carlos Brito).

????In an era when consumers are moving away from big food, 3G continues to grow bigger. Scale, it seems, is 3G’s antidote to consumers’ rejection of big brands. But what does it mean for choice?