Dive Brief:
- Anheuser-Busch InBev raised its takeover bid for SABMiller to 43.5 pounds (about $67) per share — 67.4 billion pounds ($103.6 billion). Bloomberg previously reported sources sayind the company was considering hiking up its bid to 43 pounds ($66) per share.
- The new offer follows a recently rejected bid of 42.15 pounds ($65) per share, AB InBev's third attempt, which SABMiller said was too low.
- This raised bid could still leave the two beer moguls at odds because AB InBev's offer still would not meet the 45 pounds ($69) per share bid that Bloomberg's sources say SABMiller is after.
Dive Insight:
"AB InBev wants SABMiller’s exposure to emerging markets in Latin America and Africa, while SABMiller is trying to maintain its independence, and sought to rally shareholders around its refusal to enter talks by doubling a target of planned cost savings," Bloomberg reported.
While SABMiller hasn't relented to AB InBev's offers yet, it's likely both companies hope to in some way offset some of the troubles they're seeing with their light beer brands, which have endured decreasing sales for the past several years.
SABMiller's investors are on opposing sides of this deal. SABMiller's biggest shareholder, Altria Group Inc., which controls a 27% stake, supports AB InBev's current proposal, while "an investment banker close to Colombia’s Santo Domingo family, which controls 14 percent, said SABMiller has better growth prospects than its larger suitor," according to Bloomberg.
If SABMiller accepts a bid from AB InBev, the merger will create the largest beer company in the world, which would control about 30% of the global beer market.