29th Apr 2016 06:31
LONDON (Alliance News) - Anheuser-Busch InBev SA on Friday said it has offered to divest the entirety of SABMiller's assets in Eastern and Central Europe in order to address potential regulatory concerns related to its takeover of SABMiller.
The businesses comprise Dreher Breweries in Hungary, Kompania Piwowarska in Poland, Plzensky Prazdroj and Pivovary Topvar in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, and Ursus Breweries in Romania.
The move comes after AB InBev agreed earlier this month the sale of SABMiller's Peroni, Grolsch and Meantime brands to Japan's Asahi Group Holdings Ltd for EUR2.55 billion.
The proposed divestments are subject to review and approval by the European Commission and conditional on the successful closing of SABMiller's takeover.
AB InBev hopes to complete the SABMiller acquisition during the second half of 2016. It is buying SABMiller for GBP71.00 billion, which will create by far the biggest beer business in the world with a market capitalisation of around USD280.0 billion. The pair are currently the world's first and second largest brewers, respectively.
"SABMiller's Central and Eastern European businesses have been a core part of our growth story since we first embarked on our international expansion strategy over 20 years ago. We are very proud of these businesses, their brands and the people that have made them the successes they are today, and we will continue to grow and support them throughout this process," SABMiller Chief Executive Alan Clark said in a statement.
"These assets include a number of top brands in their markets and are expected to attract considerable interest from potential buyers," AB InBev said in a separate statement.
By Karolina Kaminska; [email protected] @KarolinaAllNews
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