The companies, which each own top-five beer brands, have worked in partnership for more than 20 years and had been thrashing out the deal for several months.
A statement from AB Invev said the combined company will benefit from the “significant growth potential” that Modelo brands, such as Corona, enjoy outside of the US.
The Belgium-headquartered group will also look to float its brands in Mexico through Modelo’s distribution network.
The combined company will produce with roughly 400m hectoliters of beer volume annually, bringing together five of the top six most valuable beer brands in the world.
AB InBev said Mexico is “the world’s fourth largest profit pool for beer and a very attractive market due to its projected growth” and said “the combination is also expected to generate approximately USD$1bn in cost synergies”.
Carlos Brito, CEO of Anheuser-Busch InBev, said: “We have tremendous respect for Grupo Modelo and its brands, and we are thrilled to welcome our Grupo Modelo colleagues to the global team.
We look forward to realising our opportunities for growth and bringing our beers to more consumers around the world as we join two world-class brewers.”