Molson Coors, the U.S.-Canadian brewer whose brands include Coors Light and Carling, is to buy StarBev, the Eastern European beer maker, for EUR2.65 billion. The acquisition, from private equity group CVC, will help the beermaker expand as it seeks to extend sales beyond its core territories of the U.S., Canada and the UK. Starbev's core markets are in central and Eastern Europe. "This is very much about growth," Peter Swinburn, chief executive of Molson Coors, said. "Our [markets] are flat and declining; these ones are growing."

Drinks group Diageo Plc is to invest over GBP1 billion ($1.5 billion) in Scotch whisky production over the next five years to meet growing demand from the emerging markets of Asia, Latin America and Africa. The company, which makes Johnnie Walker, J&B and Bells whisky, said it will build a new malt distillery, expand a number of its other distilleries and develop plans for a second new distillery if global demand is sustained at expected levels. Diageo's Scotch whisky sales have risen 50% over the last five years to nearly GBP3 billion last year. Demand is led by countries like …

The league is planning a season-long series of events to celebrate the 1972 signing of the Education Amendments Act that prohibited gender discrimination in any program that received funding from the federal government, including athletics and academics.

The mixed martial arts group has signed an exclusive deal with EA Sports to produce a series of video games after ending its alliance with rival THQ.

Johan De Nysschen, Audi's former U.S. marketing chief, will be heading over to Hong Kong, there to take the reins at Nissan's new global headquarters for the Infiniti division. The unexpected announcement accompanied a series of shake-ups across the Volkswagen upper-management ranks. Some speculate De Nysschen was shoved aside in spite of helping revive Audi in the U.S. He will be handling Infiniti on a global scale. Earlier this year, Nissan dropped word that it would put further distance between its mainstream operations and the luxury brand by moving Infiniti to Hong Kong.

True Lemon, a challenger brand to the well-saturated $1 billion powdered soft drink market is using coupons as a major component of a new $5 million national campaign to encourage consumers to try what it promotes as a "natural alternative to products like Crystal Light." The brand will make around $18 million this year compared to $4 million just two years ago. It has greatly expanded distribution to 20,000 supermarkets and 3,000 super-centers, including Walmart. The summer program includes a host of marketing, featuring TV, social and digital media, all swirling around a trustworthy character named Trudy, who pitches True …

Al Fresco Natural Chicken Sausage has launched an ad campaign via Boston ad agency Connelly Partners. The "Everything Better" brand awareness push is the company's first ad campaign supported by broadcast advertising; it is also the first work from Connelly Partners since the agency was hired by Al Fresco earlier this year. The ads are airing in Sacramento, Calif.; Albany, N.Y.; and Portland, Ore.

For its fall/winter 2012 campaign, British label Burberry is using "shoppable" videos where viewers can buy the clothes and accessories worn by the actors while watching the short films through Burberry's website. One can watch the video, click on an item, pick a size, add to cart, and pay. It's part of the brand's "Runway to Reality" program.

Cars that stay within the lane markers and avoid collisions could be sold to the public in as soon as three years, experts say. Cars that basically drive themselves will follow. Automakers, as well as Google Inc., are developing driver-assist technologies that are the foundation for fully autonomous cars. California and Nevada allow road-testing of driverless cars. The latter licensed the nation's first self-driving vehicles in May. At least four more states are considering the same move. While the Google car - a Prius that uses Google software -- is a prototype, many vehicles on the road now are offering …

Facebook has deals with Heineken and Diageo. But Twitter is catching up with new tools, such as one that checks the user's age. Coors Light is testing it. Twitter is making the changes in response to lobbying from the alcohol industry, whose revised marketing code requires brands to check ages before engaging fans on social media. There is also more scrutiny from the Federal Trade Commission, which is seeking digital-marketing data from alcohol advertisers for its next major study on booze marketing. Twitter is partnering with social-media-management company Buddy Media on a new tool to bring uniformity to the "age-gating" …