Anheuser-Busch InBev clinches 103 billion dollars SABMiller deal | Progresiv
Anheuser-Busch InBev NV clinched its 103 billion dollars takeover of SABMiller Plc after the British brewer’s investors approved a deal that unites the world’s two biggest beermakers about a year after it was proposed. 
SABMiller shareholders voted 95.46 percent in favor of the sale, clearing the 75 percent needed for the takeover to proceed, the London-based company said Wednesday. The overwhelming approval laid to rest concerns that the deal could founder following opposition from some investors, even after AB InBev sweetened its offer in July.
AB InBev will dominate the combined entity, which will account for one of every three beers sold worldwide. The Budweiser maker will keep its name, ditching any vestiges of SABMiller, and only one SABMiller executive will be on the new company’s senior leadership team. The Leuven, Belgium-based brewer plans to cut about 3 percent of the enlarged company’s workforce, with an eye toward generating 1.4 billion dollars of annual savings.
“AB InBev are paying a full price; they can do with the company what they wish, they can call it what they wish,” SABMiller Chairman Jan du Plessis said on the sidelines of the shareholder meeting in London. “That’s the way life works and that’s fine. It is what it is.” (www.bloomberg.com)
