JSE-listed SABMiller's share price rose 11% on the JSE on Tuesday morning, after it and Anheuser-Busch (AB) InBev announced they had reached an in-principle agreement that would see AB InBev acquiring SABMiller's shares for £44 a share in cash, with a partial share alternative (PSA) available for around 41% of the British–South African multinational’s shares.
The all-cash offer represented a premium of about 50% to SABMiller’s closing share price of £39.34 on September 14 and was 50p higher than Monday’s offer – the fourth in a succession of rejected bids of £38, £40 and £42.15 apiece respectively.
The PSA comprised up to 326-million shares, which would be available for about 41% of SABMiller’s shares at £3.78 apiece.
The landmark deal, if finalised, could see the formation of a global beer conglomerate with yearly revenues of $64-billion and earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation of $24-billion.
“The board of SABMiller has indicated to AB InBev that it would be prepared to unanimously recommend this all-cash offer to SABMiller shareholders,
subject to their fiduciary duties and satisfactory resolution of the other terms and conditions,” the companies told the market on Tuesday.
Under the offer, SABMiller shareholders would also be entitled to any dividends declared or paid by SABMiller within the six-month period ended September 30 that did not exceed 28p a share, as well as dividends not exceeding 94p a share for the period ended March 30.
The cash consideration under the transaction would be financed through a combination of AB InBev’s internal financial resources and new third-party debt.
SABMiller's shares were trading at R812.49 apiece at 09:40 on Tuesday, up 11% on Monday's close of R732 a share.