Anheuser-Busch InBev (BUD, Financial) won the approval of shareholders for its takeover of SABMiller (LSE:SAB, Financial) on Wednesday.
The $100 billion takeover was approved by an overwhelming majority of shareholders from both companies. The takeover is one of the largest corporate mergers in history and reinforces Anheuser-Busch’s position as a brewing powerhouse.
After pursuing SABMiller for over a year, the Belgian brewer won over the board of the London-based company with an increased offer of 45 pounds ($59) per share in July. The offer was increased due to the declining value of the pound following Britain’s decision to leave the European Union in June. Shareholders felt the original offer was less appealing due to this decline.
In addition to the increased offer, Anheuser-Busch offered two alternatives to shareholders. A cash payment allocated to a majority of investors and a cash-and-shares offer given to SABMiller’s two largest shareholders.
Although the merger was quickly approved by regulators, many shareholders were left with a bad taste in their mouths as they felt the deal was favoring SABMiller’s two largest shareholders, Altria (MO, Financial) and the Santo Domingo family of Colombia. Together, the two parties own 41% of SABMiller.
The board of SABMiller encouraged its shareholders to approve the deal. Altria and the Santo Domingo family abstained from voting.
Tom Russo (Trades, Portfolio) is the largest shareholder of Anheuser-Busch among the gurus. He holds 0.41% of outstanding shares, which is 7.2% of his total assets managed. Ken Fisher (Trades, Portfolio) and Steve Mandel (Trades, Portfolio) follow as second- and third-largest shareholders among the gurus. In all, 13 gurus hold a position in Anheuser-Busch.
The new company will control over one-quarter of the world’s beer sales and be the fifth-largest consumer goods company behind PepsiCo (PEP, Financial), Unilever (UN, Financial), Procter & Gamble (PG, Financial) and Nestle (XSWX:NESN, Financial).
In addition, Anheuser-Busch will gain access to markets in Africa and Latin America.
Anheuser-Busch announced it will drop the SABMiller name and begin trading as a combined company on Oct. 11.
Disclosure: I do not own stock in any companies mentioned in the article.
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