THE MIL: compeition brewin'

The joint venture, to be called MillerCoors, would have annual revenue of about $6.6 billion and yield about $500 million in annual cost savings, The Wall Street Journal said.

The combination would bring together two big players in the U.S. beer market: Miller Brewing, the second-largest U.S. brewer by sales with about 20% market share, and Coors Brewing, the No. 3 player with about 11% market share.

Anheuser-Busch controls nearly half the U.S. beer market. Its shares were down 0.9% at $51.57.