This statement is being made by SABMiller without the prior agreement or approval of AB InBev.
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“The completed deal will give AB InBev a 29 per cent market share, which is a 20 percentage point lead over the next biggest brewer, Heineken”.
The Megabrew saga continues: after brewing giant SABMiller rejected an offer from rival AB InBev worth £42.15 per share yesterday, AB InBev has now hit back, saying the refusal “lacks credibility”.
SAB Miller has officially turned down the offer but doing so could be facing a split amongst its shareholders and board.
“The board will, of course, meet formally to consider the 42.15 pounds (per share) proposal as soon as practicable and a further announcement will be made thereafter”, it said in a statement. “AB InBev is very substantially undervaluing SABMiller”. If SABMiller were to agrees to the proposal, AB InBev will end up paying £65.14 billion for SABMiller.
The blockbuster deal, if accepted, would create a drinks giant worth more than £180 billion and be the biggest-ever takeover of a British company.
Earlier Wednesday, Budweiser’s Belgian-Brazilian owner Anheuser-Busch InBev sweetened its offer for SABMiller to more than 68 billion pounds ($104 billion) but the reply remained as bitter as the rejection of the two previous proposals.
‘AB InBev believes that this revised proposal should be highly attractive to SABMiller shareholders and provides an extremely compelling opportunity for them’.
The news pushed the share price 2.74 percent higher on the Brussels stockmarket within minutes of the open while SABMiller added 2.71 percent to 3,720 pence in London.
Altria and BevCo Ltd. together hold about 41 percent of SABMiller shares.
“Each time the board of SABMiller has refused to engage”. Its chairman has a history of successfully rejecting jaw dropping offers. AB InBev set out details of its $64.30 per share offer in a statement on Wednesday.
The boss of Anheuser-Busch InBev has stepped up his assault on the board of brewer SABMiller for refusing to discuss his company’s £65bn takeover approach for the maker of Grolsch and Peroni. While SABMiller may ask takeover regulators for an extension to the deadline.
On Tuesday, SAB reported a 9% fall in revenues for the three months to September, which it blamed on weakening emerging market currencies. It employs around 69,000 people in more than 80 countries and has global annual sales of more than 26 billion U.S. dollars (£17 billion).
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A merger would create a global beer company with revenue of US$64bn and underlying pre-tax earnings of US$24bn and a presence in virtually every major beer market.
