Suitor plays hardball over Foster’s

BREWING giant SABMiller has branded claims made about profits by takeover target Foster’s as “misleading and deceptive” and has called on Australia’s Takeovers Panel to launch an investigation.

The regulator said it would review the London-listed brewer’s application and make a decision within a fortnight.

SABMiller – the world’s second-largest brewer and home to brands including Coors, Grolsch and Peroni – last month made a hostile A$10 billion (£6bn) bid for Foster’s, which the board of Australia’s biggest brewer rejected as being too low to be “worth discussing”.

Analysts said that, while it was not uncommon for a predator to take issue with comments a target company made in relation to the bid, it was more unusual to attack a target’s accounting and profit statements.

Daniel Nelson, an analyst at Constellation Capital Management, said: “My impression is that they [SABMiller] are trying to do everything they can to make sure they do not have to increase their offer price.”

SABMiller took its offer directly to shareholders last month after Foster’s rejected its initial approach.

Shareholders are hoping for an offer above A$5 a share, compared with the current A$4.90 bid.

Foster’s – the maker of Victoria Bitter, Carlton Draught and Pure Blonde – reported a 9 per cent slide in second-half profit on 23 August, in a rare decline that showed beer margins falling for the first time in a decade and lower volumes.

SABMiller said there was no reasonable basis for several forward-looking statements in Foster’s results presentation, according to Australia’s Takeovers Panel. The UK-based beer firm also claimed the net debt figures published by Foster’s did not meet Australian accounting standards.

George Durbridge, acting counsel on Australian Takeovers Panel, said he would assemble a panel on Monday to look at the application by SABMiller. If the panel decided to review the merits of SABMiller’s claims, a final decision on the case could come within two weeks.

A Foster’s spokesman said it would not comment on the claims by SABMiller because the matter was before the Takeovers Panel. Its chief executive, John Pollaers, was in London this week as part of a post-results investor roadshow.

SABMiller has long been favourite to take over Foster’s given the lack of potential rivals and the London-based brewer’s desire to have a range of global businesses.

Foster’s is the final prize in a global beer industry that has witnessed a spate of mergers and acquisitions in recent years. The Australian firm spun off its wine business into a separate company back in May in an effort to turn itself into a more-attractive takeover target.