Megabrew deal: AB InBev’s takeover of SABMiller to be cleared by European Union regulators
Antitrust regulators in the European Union are set to conditionally approve Anheuser-Busch InBev's takeover of British drinks giant SABMiller.
The £71bn megabrew takeover, will be cleared by European Commission, Reuters reported today.
SABMiller's share price has traded around 40 per cent higher since before the takeover was agreed in mid-October.
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Regulatory obstacles
At the end of April, AB InBev told the European Commission it will sell off SABMiller's Eastern and Central European brands, which includes Pilsner Urquell, if the deal goes through to assuage competition concerns.
The company has already accepted an offer from Japanese drinks major Asahi to buy SABMiller's beer brands Peroni, Grolsch and Meantime.
Read more: Megabrew takes a step closer as AB InBev accepts Asahi's $2.55bn bid
In a further attempt to try to pave the way for the megabrew deal, AB InBev embarked on a jumbo euro bond deal in mid-March, offering a six-tranche, euro-dominated deal with maturities ranging from four to 20 years in length at a minimum of $1bn each in size.
Australia, the US and South Africa
AB InBev, the world's largest brewer, has had to woo a number of antitrust regulators outside of the EU in an attempt to push the megabrew deal through.
At the beginning of May, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) said it will not oppose the deal, after it concluded the tie-up would be unlikely to result in rocketing costs of beer for customers.
In the US, antitrust organisations have flagged that the deal raises "serious competitive concerns", despite AB InBev announcing it will sell SABMiller's stake in the US joint venture MillCoors to Molson Coors Brewing.
In South Africa, AB InBev has received the green light to list on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange in a move it said demonstrated its "commitment" to South Africa, where SABMiller is an important player in the national drinks market.
However, its efforts to win over regulators in Pretoria has so far stumbled, even though the Belgium-based brewer launched a R1bn deal of wide-ranging job and investment commitments in mid-April.