TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

InBev Shareholders To Vote On Anheuser-Busch Bid

ADVERTISEMENT

By AOIFE WHITE

The Associated Press

Published: September 5, 2008

Shareholders of brewer InBev SA will vote Sept. 29 on the company's $52 billion bid for U.S. rival Anheuser-Busch Cos., InBev said Thursday.

The company said it also would ask shareholders to back a capital increase and the issuing of new shares that would raise up to $10 billion to pay for part of the deal.

Three-quarters of InBev's shareholders must approve the Anheuser-Busch acquisition, the capital increase, and changing the name of the company to Anheuser-Busch InBev.

Employees of Busch Gardens Tampa Bay will no doubt be watching closely for news of the vote.

The Reason: InBev has said it would sell the 10 theme parks in the Busch Entertainment Corp. division, which includes Busch Gardens and Adventure Island - also in Tampa.

The sale of the entertainment group could net $4 billion to $5 billion, analysts have estimated.

InBev says its controlling shareholder - Stichting InBev, which owns a 52 percent stake in the brewer - has agreed to vote for the Anheuser-Busch bid. Other shareholders representing 11 percent of InBev also will support the resolutions, the company said.

Stichting InBev is controlled by three Brazilian financiers - including investment banker and billionaire Jorge Paulo Lemann - and a group of Belgian aristocratic families.

The deal combining InBev and Anheuser-Busch, expected to close by year's end, would create the world's largest brewer and the third-largest consumer product company.
InBev is the world's second-largest beer maker, narrowly behind SABMiller. Swallowing Anheuser-Busch allows it to leap ahead, capturing half of the U.S. beer market and a fifth of China and Russia.
InBev promises that its foothold in emerging markets such as China and Brazil will boost sales of Anheuser-Busch's iconic Budweiser beer, generating longer-term profit as sales stall in North America and Europe.

Anheuser-Busch agreed July 14 to be taken over by InBev, heading off what had promised to be a long and acrimonious takeover battle for the St. Louis-based brewer. Its shareholders must also approve the bid.
InBev has tried to soothe American fears of job losses by promising to keep open all 12 North American breweries. Anheuser-Busch already plans to shed 1,185 positions - mostly by offering early retirement and not filling existing vacancies.

Tribune reporter Ted Jackovics contributed to this report.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT