AB INBEV CLEARS THE FINAL HURDLE

THE MEGA BREW has arrived. Anheuser-Busch InBev and SABMiller investors finally voted in favor of the more than $1OO billion combination of the world’s first- and second-largest brewers, marking the last major hurdle the deal needed to clear in order to close. Both companies’ stockholders voted in favor of all resolutions concerning AB InBev’s recently restructured acquisition of SABMiller through the Newbelco vehicle. The company reworked parts of the deal in August in an attempt to address concerns with the falling pound and the partial share alternative being given to top SABMiller shareholders Altria Group Inc. and BevCo Ltd. Under the revised terms recommended by SABMiller’s board in July, AB InBev will pay £45 (US $57.3O) per share for the cash portion of the transaction, up from the £44 (US $56.O2) per share agreed to last November. The new terms also called for Altria and BevCo to constitute one voting class and the remaining shareholders will constitute the other. Seventy-five percent of each class was required to vote in favor of the deal for it to go through. The companies have also secured regulatory approval in the US, the European Union, China and 2O other countries, with many of the approvals conditional on local divestments. The deal was finalized on October 1O.