AB InBev expected to up bid for SAB Miller

BREWING giant Anheuser‑Busch InBev is expected to crank up its £65 billion offer for rival SAB Miller ahead of this Wednesday’s City takeover deadline – but incrementally, rather than a significant increase.

AnheuserBusch InBev is expected to crank up its £65 billion offer for SABMiller, makers of Miller and Grolsch beer. Picture: PA

The SAB Miller board has turned down the current tentative offer of £42.15 per share, after earlier offers of £38 and £40 from AB InBev. The two are respectively the world’s second biggest and biggest brewers.

Sources familiar with the situation said yesterday that reports of an offer increase “of pounds not pence” to get SAB Miller’s board approval of a deal looked unlikely.

Meanwhile, one analyst said: “Some of the numbers out there, perhaps £44 or £45 a share, look fanciful. But a last-ditch tweak of the deal terms is very possible. AB InBev wants this deal.”

US tobacco firm Altria, owning 27 per cent of the target, has backed the suitor. But the Santo Domingo family, which owns 14 per cent of SAB Miller, has supported the board.