It is the marriage of beer, which will put under one umbrella Peroni with Corona and Budweiser. After three bids rejected, the Belgian giant InBev has convinced SabMiller, rival British-South African long courted and which precisely controls the brand of blonde Italian, to say yes.
InBev, which brews Budweiser, Corona, Beck’s, has given the green light to an acquisition of 68 billion pounds, peri 104 billion for the majority stake in SabMiller. Who agreed “in principle”, although it is already clear that the board of directors will give the green light.
The agreement opens the biggest acquisition in British history, surpassing 47 billion pounds of the operation British Gas Royal Dutch Shell, and the third largest merger of all time. It will emerge the number one beer worldwide, a giant worth 250 billion Euros and holding almost half of the global market. And it is the candle on the cake (for shareholders and banks advisor) on a sparkling year for mergers and acquisitions.
To celebrate, today, were shareholders of SabMiller, starting with the two ‘big’ Altria (the group Tobacco Use), and Bevco: the group’s shares have risen almost 10% today to just 39.62 pounds and the price offered by the Belgian group, 44 pounds per share, represents a premium of as much as 50% compared to prices at which SabMiller bargained in mid-September before the offensive of InBev. The discount compared to the share offer price testifies to the remaining concerns of some investors about the viability of the operation.
The market has long bet on the marriage of the two ‘big’ beer, that’s fate put under one hat drinking a beer on three in every corner of the world. InBev has decided after years of courtship, and the rest of the two groups are a good combination in terms of their geographical presence. InBev, well established in Europe and the US, aims to strengthen the presence of SabMiller rooted in Africa and Latin America. In addition everything should be made easier by the fact the two groups are not controlled by families, as happens in the case of Heineken or Carlsberg.
Do not appeal to purists of beer frightened by globalization so intrusive, but only hitch (discount price SabMiller today than 44 pounds testify offers some lingering doubts) could be antitrust authorities, for example in the US where SabMiller may have to sell its stake in MillerCoors, or in South Africa where it is one of the companies in Most stock market capitalization. The two companies are given time until October 28 to put the final seal.
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