SABMiller, the descendant of South African Breweries, has stretched its tentacles across the continent, betting that Africans will shift to higher quality beers as economic development increases disposable income.
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Earlier in October, AB InBev put a 44 pound per share offer on the table to buy out SABMiller – the world’s largest brewer.
South Africans have expressed concern about local jobs once breweries AB InBev and SABMiller merge. AB InBev won’t hold up the offer based on the progress of that deal, but both companies hope to announce it when or within a short period of time after AB InBev makes its formal offer, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Sources close to the companies say that it is due to the workload involved with AB Inbev assembling the financial package to carry out the deal, the Financial Times reports. The original deadline for AB InBev to “put up or shut up” was Wednesday; the new deadline is 5pm on November 4. It also said financing was in place for…
InBev itself was formed in 2008 by the merger of InBev and United States brewing giant Anheuser-Busch and since then has aggressively expanded.
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The deal remains subject to conditions. The bid will create a company that makes one out of every three beers drunk across the globe and could face competition hurdles in SA. SABMiller also has a presence in the U.S., through its Miller brand, and in several Latin American countries, which are also seen as emerging market economies.
