The Times has this morning reported that the Santo Domingo family, which owns 14% of the company, rejected the £42.15 a share offer. However, the biggest shareholder, Altria, which owns 27%, backed the offer.
In an attempt to win over Altria and BevCo, who would incur huge tax losses by selling for cash, AB InBev included a partial share alternative, pitched at a lower price of £37.49.
Analysts at RBC Capital Markets told The Times that this reduced the average offer price per share to £40.21, valuing SABMiller at £65bn, or about £72bn including debt, which it said was “some way below what we would regard as a knockout bid”.
Altria, which rejected the earlier £40 offer, urged SABMiller’s board to “engage promptly and constructively with AB InBev to agree on the terms of a recommended offer”, but the board said that £42.15 “substantially undervalues SABMiller, its unique and unmatched footprint and its standalone prospects”.
The board is thought to be demanding more than £45 a share.