LONDON, Sept. 28 (UPI) — A $100 billion deal to merge SABMiller PLC and Anheuser-Busch InBev SA, forming a giant in the brewing industry, was approved by shareholders.
The deal, in which Anheuser-Busch InBev acquires SABMiller, was approved Wednesday in London. The new company will account for 27 percent of beer sales worldwide with annual revenue of about $55 billion. It will also provide Anheuser-Busch InBev an entrance into African sales, where it has little presence, and a stronger share of the market in Latin America.
Anheuser-Busch InBev is already the world’s largest beer maker. The merged company will bring together some of the best-known brands of beer, including Budweiser, Corona, Leffe, Hoegaarden and Stella Artois . SAB Miller will be delisted on major stock exchanges Oct. 4, and shares in the combined company will begin trading on that day.
The vote Wednesday came after a year of preparatory agreements, and the sale of various assets to satisfy anti-monopoly regulators in a number of countries. SAB Miller’s 59 percent stake in Miller Coors was sold to SABMiller’s joint venture partner, Molson Coors brewing, in November 2015.
SABMiller’s stake in Snow, the world’s best-selling beer, was sold to China Resources Beer in March 2016. And SABMiller sold its Grolsch, Meantime and Peroni brands to Japan’s Asahi Group holdings in April.
