Kulczyk Investments Supports SABMiller’s Decision to Reject Bid

“So Anheuser-Busch InBev on Thursday appealed directly to SABMiller shareholders to back the bid, signaling it might be prepared to launch a formal takeover offer without a blessing from the board”.

It also said AB InBev has not yet provided comfort to SABMiller about the conditional nature of the proposals, including significant regulatory hurdles in the United States and in China. The improved bid – pitched at £42.15 per share and worth £68 billion or 92 billion euros – was rejected by the SABMiller board as being too low.

Anheuser-Busch Inbev SA (NYSE:BUD) stock has received a short term price target of $ 133 from 7 Analyst.

“If AB InBev does indeed have the support of both Altria and BevCo…it would appear natural that there is a few probability that AB InBev eventually goes hostile”, Lastra said.

The title for the largest deal in history still belongs to Vodafone’s acquisition of Mannesmann AG in 1999 for $202.8 billion. Kraft Heinz is owned by 3G Capital Partners LP, the global investment firm founded by AB InBev’s Brazilian shareholders, and it uses many of AB InBev’s business practices. It has stated its surprised that the SABMiller board claims the offer “still very substantially undervalues SABMiller”. If it does manage to buy its rival it looks like it’ll have to be a forced marriage, after it accused SABMiller of lacking “credibility” for rejecting a third takeover offer. The brewer also noted that Marlboro cigarette maker Altria “has publicly stated that it supports our proposal”.

The company’s management is today meeting with investors to discuss its recent trading statement and to provide an update on its operations.

AB InBev’s previous two proposals were £38 per share and £40 per share in cash. The stock hit high price of $53.96 and then closed at $52.86 by moving up 1.26%.The firm has price to sales ratio of 12.53 and its price to book per share was 7.51.

Carlos Brito, chief executive officer of AB InBev, said: “Notwithstanding our good faith efforts, the Board of SABMiller has refused to meaningfully engage with us”.

In addition to bringing together the classic USA favorites, the merger would see AB InBev’s Stella Artois and SABMiller’s Grolsch in the same stable. AB InBev desperately needs SABMiller for its growth potential, while SAB is facing increasing pressure from its own shareholders.

The board believes the structure of the proposals “discriminates against the substantial proportion of SABMiller shareholders, who may not be able to hold unlisted shares”.