Rio de Janeiro, July 23 (EFE) Brazil's antitrust regulator Wednesday imposed a record fine of 352 million reais ($176 million) on beverage giant AmBev for anti-competitive practices.

The Cade agency found that AmBev, brewer of Skol, Brahma and Antarctica beers, used discounts, premiums and exclusivity agreements to dissuade retailers from selling competing brands.

Cade's Fernando de Magalhaes Furlan said the biggest impact of AmBev's anti-competitive practices was on consumers, who 'will not have either the variety or prices they want'.

AmBev, he said, 'always operated at the limit of legality.'

With up to 70 percent of Brazilian beer sales, AmBev 'has responsibility for acts that affect the entire market', Furlan said.