For 41% of stock, AB InBev is offering a partial-share alternative, essentially a combination of cash and unlisted stock, translating into a lower per-share price of GBP39.03.
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On the 13th October, AB InBev announced that it had increased its offer to around £68 billion to acquire the company.
However, the complexities of the mooted mega-merger and the sheer volume of paperwork involved in bringing together the world’s two biggest brewers have forced the companies to request a further extension of at least a week.
InBev said in the statement that completion of the deal would require “unanimous recommendation” by SABMiller’s board, which includes Altria, the former Philip Morris which owns the iconic Marlborough cigarette brand.
So-called organic revenue increased 7.5 per cent, the Amsterdam-based company said on the day that Anheuser-Busch InBev was given another week by United Kingdom regulators to make a formal takeover offer for SABMiller.
Today’s announcement cofirms that AB InBev has completed its confirmatory due diligence review of SABMiller and reconfirmed the financial and other terms of the possible offer.
Discussions between the two brewing giants are in progress to formalise the offer. “A scheme of arrangement, unlike a tender offer, will hinge on SABMiller taking the offer to its shareholders”, The Wall Street Journal reported. “The legal agreements being put in place are huge and detailed”, said the person, adding that there is no guarantee the deadline won’t be extended yet again.
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AB InBev, the world’s largest beermaker, plans to buy world number two, SABMiller, in a mostly cash deal worth $106-billion (£69 billion) based on AB InBev’s closing share price on Tuesday. These acquisitions are just the most recent in a series of acquisitions of distributors by AB InBev in the last few years that are raising concerns with craft brewers.
