Increased InBev offer for SABMiller is “unacceptable”, says Aberdeen AM

Belgian-owned ABInBev, brewer of Budweiser, Stella Artois and Corona, has lifted its offer for rival Sabmiller to some £79 billion in the wake of the sharp fall in sterling as a result of Britain’s Brexit vote.

The deal means Sabmiller investors now stand to receive £45 a share, up from an earlier offer of £44 last October.

Sabmiller said: “The board of Sabmiller confirms that on 22 July its chairman had a conversation with the chairman of AB Inbev about AB Inbev’s offer for Sabmiller in light of recent exchange rate volatility and market movements. There was no discussion or agreement about the terms of today’s Revised Offer.”

Analysts have speculated that £45 a share was the target for many big investors when the biggest ever bid for a UK company was first unveiled at £42.15 last October, and subsequently increased to £44.

But Aberdeen AM said the new offer still undervalued the company and continued to favour Sabmiller’s two biggest investors, those shareholders US tobacco company Altria and Columbian-owned BevCo.

AB Inbev has tweaked the terms of an alternative share and-cash structure designed for Altria and Bevco, raising the cash element by 88p per share.

Aberdeen, which has a 1.17 per cent stake in SAB Miller and only 0.06 per cent in its suitor, said the revised offer was still unacceptable, as it still favoured Altria and Bevco.

“We have engaged with SABMiller’s board on the differential treatment of shareholders since the deal was first constructed. The way that the value of the partial share offer has diverged from the cash offer has compounded our discomfort,” Aberdeen said.

Altria and BevCo should not be able to vote on the cash offer as they were inherently conflicted by their future stakes in AB InBev if the deal completes, the Scottish investor added.

“We believe the board’s only choice is to treat Altria and BevCo as a separate class of shareholders and would urge them to make a public statement to this effect.” Failing a new offer, Aberdeen would “happily” remain a long-term shareholder in SABMiller, it added.