AB Inbev ups bid to £70bn for SABMiller

AB Inbev has raised its offer to buy rival brewer SABMiller to £43.50 per share, taking the offer to £70 billion.

The £70 billion offer is the fourth that AB Inbev has made, and values SABMiller at 48% higher than the last trading day before the proposed buyout was made public (Photo: ABInbev)

The raised offer comes after the board of SABMiller rejected a £42.15 per share offer last week. It described the £68bn bid as “opportunistic”, but SABMiller’s largest shareholder, Altria Group, urged the rest of the company leadership to accept.

It is the fourth formal offer that AB Inbev has made to purchase the Peroni and Miller beer producer, and if accepted it will create one of the world’s largest consumer product companies.

Pressure is mounting on the SABMiller board, chaired by Jan du Plessis, to not let the opportunity for a deal to pass. Altria, which produces Marlboro cigarettes and owns 27% of SABMiller’s shares, publicly said it did not back the board’s decision to turn down the £68bn offer.

Carlos Brito, AB Inbev’s CEO, has accused SABMiller of “refusing to meaningfully engage” with negotiations over the proposed buyout, which it is estimated would create a company generating revenues of US$64 billion (£42bn) per year.

SABMiller has yet to respond to the new bid.