AB InBev urges investors not to let SABMiller thwart bid

But SABMiller said the £42.15 a share offer “still very substantially undervalues SABMiller, its unique and unmatched footprint, and its standalone prospects”. Importantly, Altria, which is SABMiller’s biggest shareholder with a 27% stake in the firm, has publicly stated that it supported the revised proposal.

Brito said he views SABMiller as an opportunity to grow where A-B InBev doesn’t have a large presence, like Africa, which he called a driver of the current proposal.

SABMiller, on the other hand, seems unimpressed with the third offer, saying in a statement that AB InBev “is very substantially undervaluing SABMiller”.

SABMiller shares jumped over 3 percent in London on news of the bid but have come crashing back down after the rejection.

In the economy, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said manufacturing rose by 0.5 per cent in August, in line with forecasts, following a 0.7 per cent fall in July, boosted by food and drink manufacturing and basic metal production.

“The cash consideration under the transaction would be financed through a combination of AB InBev’s internal financial resources and new third party debt”, according to a statement by AB InBev.

SABMiller chairman Jan Petrus du Plessis is behind the effort to keep the company from being taken over by Anheuser-Busch.

AB InBev said it believed the offer would be attractive to SABMiller shareholders, adding it was disappointed the British company had rejected both previous approaches.

AB InBev CEO Carlos Brito said the combined company “would build the first truly global beer company”.

The world’s largest brewer noted that the cash part of the offer represents a 44% premium to SABMiller’s closing price on September 14, the day before media speculation about a possible deal surfaced.

“We should not be surprised to see a slightly raised offer over the next week”, Simon Davies of Canaccord Genuity in London said in a note.

SABMiller had already turned down two offers of £38 and £40 a share.

The Budweiser to Stella brewer Inbev only has until 5pm next Wednesday to table a formal offer or walk away from SAB for at least six months under the City’s Takeover Panel’s rules.

Jeremy Cunnington at Euromonitor global added: “AB InBev’s bid for SABMiller is the inevitable conclusion of over a decade of consolidation within the brewing industry”. That could include Miller in the United States.

Europe’s main stock markets climbed yesterday, extending its winning streak to a fourth straight session, as shares of the world’s major brewers rise on a takeover battle for a few brands.