SABMiller has agreed to Anheuser-Busch InBev’s $106 billion offer to acquire it. Together, they will form a global beer conglomerate with $64 billion in annual revenues that is estimated to make up 29% of global beer sales. The new company would be three times bigger than its next competitor, Heineken. Given that this is such a large acquisition, the merger will of course, be subject to regulatory approval and the two companies will likely need to sell off some assets in order to gain approval.
Strategic Rationale
With this acquisition Anheuser-Busch will gain access to fast growing markets like Latin American and Africa as sales in traditional markets like the U.S. and Europe have slowed down. This trend is widespread across the beer and even the liquor industry and is forcing large companies to take action. Earlier I wrote about liquor giant Diageo’s strategy to woo African drinkers with its own brand of spirits and beer. It seems like Anheuser-Busch is pursuing a similar path to growth by following future demand. Originally founded in Johannesburg, South Africa, SABMiller is the largest brewer in Africa, with a 34% market share. An acquisition may be the fastest and safest route for Anheuser-Busch to enter into a new market and attract new customers.
Negotiations
The agreement comes just days after SABMiller rejected Anheuser-Busch’s offer. As with many publicly traded companies, there were multiple shareholders to convince which took many talks over the course of several weeks. The investment bank 3G Capital which helped put together Anheuser-Busch, negotiated with two of SABMiller’s biggest shareholders: the Santo Domingo family and tobacco company Altria.
In any acquisition, understanding the motivations of the seller is critical to the success of an acquisition. In the case of Anheuser-Busch, without the approval of the two largest shareholders, SABMiller would not have agreed to its offer. Although privately held, middle market companies typically do not need to negotiate with multiple, large shareholders, especially not publicly, you may need to negotiate with two owners or even a family. These owners may want different things out of an acquisition. As a buyer, it’s up to you to figure out what the owner or owners really want and what will motivate them to sell. In this case, SABMiller, wanted something in addition to a high premium, it wanted assurances that the deal would pass regulatory approval and a $3 billion breakup fee.
