Ambev, formally Companhia de Bebidas das Américas, is a Brazilian brewing company now merged into Anheuser-Busch InBev. Its name translates to "Beverage Company of the Americas", hence the "Ambev" abbreviation. It was created on July 1, 1999, with the merger of two breweries, Brahma and Antarctica. The merger was approved by the board of directors of the Brazilian Administrative Council for Economic Defense (CADE) on March 30, 2000. The organization's headquarters are in São Paulo, Brazil. It is one of the largest companies by market capitalization in Brazil and in the Southern hemisphere.