By Katie Davis I t seems like we have been talking about the Anheuser- Busch InBev and SABMiller deal for as long as we have been talking about beer. Well the wait is over, as AB nBev clinched its $103 billion takeover of SABMiller that unites the world’s two biggest beer makers making the world’s largest Mega-Brewer. Investors SABMiller approved the bid and voted over 95 percent in favor of the sale, clearing the 75 percent needed for the takeover to proceed. AB InBev will dominate the combined entity, making the Mega-Brewer responsible for producing one of every three beers sold worldwide. The deal brings brands like Stella Artois, Beck’s, Castle and Foster’s under one roof and provides AB InBev with its first foothold in Africa as the brewer is reliant on devel- oping new markets as sales in the U.S., Canada and Brazil come under pressure. The Mega-Brewer will generate revenue of about $55 billion, according to Jefferies International analyst Edward Mundy, who estimates AB InBev can deliver cost savings of $3 billion.
enlarged company’s workforce as it focuses on generat- ing $1.4 billion of annual savings almost immediately, this was seen in a big way with only one SABMiller executive being named to the new Mega-Brewer’s senior leader- ship team. “AB InBev are paying a full price; they can do with the company what they wish, they can call it what they wish,” SABMiller Chairman Jan du Plessis said on the sidelines of the shareholder meeting in London. “That’s the way life works and that’s fine. It is what it is.” The deals closing, concludes a yearlong process that saw the world two largest breweries haggle over price before spending months hammering out asset divestments to appease antitrust regulators worldwide. Shares of Molson Coors Brewing Co. rose as much as 3.5 percent to a record high in early New York trading as the company should benefit from taking full control over its joint venture with SABMiller, which was sold to help gain U.S. regulatory approval. News of the deals saw SABMiller shares rise 0.5 percent to $58.26, while AB InBev rose 0.6 percent to $132.71. Trading in SABMiller is scheduled to end on Oct. 4 and the deal will be completed on Oct. 10.
The Mega-Brewer plans to cut about 3 percent of the
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OCTOBER 2016 • SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS
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