Megabrew: AB InBev’s takeover of SABMiller bubbling along nicely, says company
Anheuser-Busch InBev revealed today that everything is going swimmingly in its proposed takeover of SABMiller.
As well as announcing its quarterly results, AB InBev reported that it was making "good progress" in getting the regulatory clearances it needs for the £71bn takeover deal and that it expected the transaction to close in the second half of 2016.
The deal was formally announced in November last year, with AB InBev agreeing to purchase all of SABMiller's share capital. AB InBev has also launched a secondary listing on the Johannesburg stock exchange as part of the tie-up process.
However, the deal has meant SABMiller must sell off some of its well-known brands – including Peroni and Grolsch, which are being sold to Asahi – to make sure the deal appeases various competition watchdogs.
The company, which owns Corona, Stella Artois and Budweiser, also announced that revenue grew organically by 3.1 per cent in the first quarter of 2016 to $9.4bn (£6.5bn), although this represented a fall from last year's $10.5bn on a reported basis. Meanwhile, gross profits grew organically by 3.9 per cent.
However, total volumes declined 1.7 per cent, with volumes for AB InBev's own-brand beer falling 1.4 per cent thanks to a weak market in Brazil. However, that was offset slightly by stronger sales in Mexico.
Meanwhile, normalised earnings per share slumped to $0.51 from $1.40 the year before.