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Huge beer industry merger approved

September 28, 2016

Shareholders in SABMiller and AB InBev have overwhelmingly given the green light to what will be one of the biggest mergers in corporate history. Both companies spoke of a good deal that presents significant synergies.

https://p.dw.com/p/2QhWM
Beer bottles
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/D. Karmann

Belgian-Brazilian brewer AB InBev cemented its status as the global leader in the beer industry after investors backed its buyout of British rival SABMiller.

Shareholders in SABMiller on Wednesday overwhelmingly approved the $103-billion (92.billion-euro) takeover by the maker of Budweiser, Corona and Stella Artois.

The announcement came hours after AB InBev investors also backed the fourth-largest merger in corporate history, which was to top a decade of consolidation in the world's beer sector.

New market opportunities

"There's clear synergies to be achieved through this merger and the new company will see the combined group account for one in four beers sold worldwide," XTB brokerage analyst David Cheetham told AFP.

A merger creates a beer-brewing giant

"If the deal goes through, the firm can look forward to laying claim to almost half of the industry's profits," he added.

Experts noted that SABMiller's strength in many emerging markets of Africa addressed a previous weakness in AB InBev's profile, while the merger would make it easier to roll out flagship beers in areas not yet reached.

The transaction is now set to be completed on October 10, 2016.

hg/sri (AFP, dpa)