AB InBev may bid $106 bn for SAB Miller: report
28 Sep 2015
Anheuser-Busch InBev SA (AB InBev) could table an initial $106 billion takeover offer for SABMiller as early as today, the Sunday Times yesterday reported.
Earlier this month, AB InBev, the world's largest brewer, approached SABMiller about a takeover, a move designed to combine AB InBev's dominance in Latin America with SABMiller's in Africa, both fast-growing markets, as well as their breweries in Asia (See: SABMiller Plc reveals approach from rival Anheuser-Busch InBev)
Both companies have begun ''friendly'' talks, the report said, but SABMiller is said to be negotiating hard on price.
A potential deal would create a company with more than 400 brands and annual revenue of $276 billion (€246 billion).
It would also be the largest ever takeover of a British company and one of the biggest M&A deals in history.
Tobacco giant Altria, the maker of Marlboro cigarette, the largest shareholder in SABMiller, with a 27 per cent stake, and El Salvador-based BevCo Ltd, the privately-held investment vehicle of Colombia's Santo Domingo family, with 15 per cent, is reported to have agreed to the deal, according to various reports.
AB InBev holds a 20 per cent of the global market share in beer and SABMiller, 10 per cent, while the combined group would hold a dominating 78 per cent of the US beer market, which will invite intense scrutiny from regulators.
