SABMiller’s board will recommend its shareholders accept the final offer of £45 per share made by AB InBev on Tuesday, the company said on Friday, ending a week of intrigue on the future of the beer industry’s biggest merger.
The merger, which is valued at £79bn ($104.89bn), still has to be voted on by shareholders.
Anheuser-Busch InBev’s (AB InBev) $103.4bn acquisition of its smaller rival, SABMiller, dubbed the mega-merger, appeared close to becoming a reality on Friday as China’s Ministry of Commerce gave its conditional approval to the deal. China had been the last major regulatory hurdle for the brewer to overcome.
Anheuser-Busch InBev on Friday reported a drop in second quarter profit as it took a one-time extra-ordinary charge of $1.77bn related its $100bn plus acquisition of SABMiller.
The brewer of Budweiser, Stella Artois, Skol, among others hedged £45bn ($59.36bn) towards the deal in December at an average rate of $1.53 per pound. When Britain voted in favour of leaving the European Union, the currency’s value fell to $1.33 a pound on June 30, when the company’s second quarter ended.
