Summary: Two of the world’s biggest beer empires may be merging.
Two of the biggest beer empires in the world – AB InBev and SABMiller – may be merging.
After a year of speculation, Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV Inc. stated its intention to acquire London-based SABMiller this week. SABMiller’s shares gained 23% within minutes.
The Wall Street Journal reports the merger would allow the two brands to market themselves in new corners of the globe. It would also help the brewers combat the rising popularity of newfangled craft beers. Though we ultimately prefer Conan O’Brien’s explanation:
According to Bloomberg, if the deal goes through it will result in a singular, mammoth company that would control half of the beer industry’s profits. It would be the largest food and drink merger in history.
Analysts predict that any bid will be in excess of SABMiller’s Tuesday market capitalization of $75 billion. While Belgian-based AB InBev says it intends to work with SABMiller’s board, it’s unclear where SAB stands on the matter.
Experts caution the deal is far from certain. Anheuser-Bush InBev will have to win over two of SABMiller’s biggest investors, including cigarette maker Altria and one of Colombia’s wealthiest families, Santo Domingos. Antitrust regulations in Washington and Beijing may present hurdles as well.
Source article:
http://www.wsj.com/articles/sabmiller-gets-takeover-approach-from-anheuser-busch-inbev-1442395363
Other source:
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/17/business/dealbook/anheuser-busch-inbev-takeover-sabmiller.html
Photo from:
http://www.tribuneindia.com/news/health/beer-digesting-bacteria-may-fight-diseases-too/27670.html
Video credit:
Clip taken from: http://teamcoco.com/video/conan-monologue-09-16-15
