SABMiller’s board on Wednesday moved to calm shareholder disquiet among activist investors who would like to seek a better share offer from AB InBev.
When AB InBev agreed to acquire SABMiller in November, the agreed upon price was £44 ($57.79) per share for most shareholders. However, two major shareholders, tobacco giant, Altria Group and the BevCo Limited Investment arm of Colombia’s Santo Domingo family were offered partial-share alternative of 41% of stock. Essentially, it is a combination of cash and unlisted stock, which has translated into a lower per share price of £41.85.
Since the deal and because AB InBev’s stock trades in euros – a currency that has appreciated by 8.4% in the last month against the pound sterling post Brexit vote, those shares are now worth £51, a 15% premium.
As a result, some activist investors, Children’s Investment Fund (TCI) and hedge fund Elliott Advisors are asking SABMiller to seek new terms from AB InBev. The chairman of SABMiller said the brewer would consider the attractiveness of the initial deal by Anheuser-Busch InBev after the merger has passed all regulatory hurdles. However, there is no guarantee that AB InBev would agree to raise an offer for a deal that has already been signed.
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