Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/707940
maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 27 JULY 2016 11 Business Today www.creditinfo.com.mt info@creditinfo.com.mt Tel: 2131 2344 Your Local Partner for Credit Risk Management Solutions Supporting you all the way Beer giant AB InBev raises offer for SABMiller Brewing giant AB InBev has raised its takeover offer for London-based SABMiller af- ter a depreciation in the British pound made its original offer less attractive. On Tuesday, the Belgian- based brewer raised its offer for SABMiller in their proposed €90 billion-plus beer megamerger, seeking to allay investor concern following a sharp fall in the value of the British pound after the UK vote to leave the European Union last month, upending the economics of the complex deal for some SABMiller shareholders. AB InBev brewer said it would now pay £45 a share for its rival, valuing SABMiller at about £79 billion up from its previous offer of £44 a share, or about £71 billion. The new terms show the deep decline in the pound: The original offer was worth about $108 billion at November's exchange rates. AB InBev, the world's largest brewer, said the sweetened offer was its final one. SABMiller, in its own statement, said it has hired Centerview Partners to give it financial advice following the recent currency volatility, and that its board would consult with shareholders and meet to formally review the offer. It said the chairmen of both brewers held talks on Friday, but they didn't discuss the terms of a new deal. The deal, formally announced in November, was expected to close in the latter half of this year. The 11th-hour renegotiations come after both companies spent months winning regulatory approval for the megamerger, agreeing to sell big chunks of their business in the process. That raises the stakes for both to reach a new deal. Still, some big SABMiller shareholders are already digging in their heels. Aberdeen Asset Management, one of SABMiller's major investors, said the new offer still undervalues the company. "The revised deal remains unacceptable," the investment firm said, "as it both undervalues the company and continues to favor SABMiller's two major shareholders." It said that in the absence of a better offer, it was content to stay a shareholder in SABMiller as a standalone firm. Aberdeen owns 0.6% of SABMiller, according to FactSet. If the merger falls apart, AB InBev has committed to paying SABMiller a €2.7 billion breakup fee. AB InBev's stock trades in euros, making its shares more valuable than the cash offer following the pound's decline and increasing the likelihood that other shareholders besides Altria and the Santo Domingo family would opt for the more valuable alternative. The alternative was designed to help AB InBev's largest shareholders with taxation and potential accounting issues, key to securing their backing for the deal. If other investors choose to opt for the partial-share alternative, Altria could lose its two seats on the combined company's board, and some analysts have said the tobacco company might lose its ability to record income from the beer business. The two brewing giants agreed to their merger last November and the deal is expected to close in the second half of this year. The deal has already been approved by competition authorities in the US, the European Union, South Africa and several other jurisdictions, leaving Chinese approval the last big antitrust hurdle to the combination. The deal is critical to AB InBev's growth. Buying SABMiller allows AB InBev to reduce its reliance on the US, where it has had trouble getting younger people to drink more Budweiser, and gives it access to the growing African market, which is expected to drive beer- industry sales. 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