百威英博提高收購SABMiller報價
Anheuser-Busch InBev, the world’s largest brewer, has unilaterally raised its offer for rival SABMiller to ￡79bn to quash an investor rebellion that threatened to disrupt the third-biggest deal in corporate history.
全球最大啤酒釀造商百威英博(Anheuser-Busch InBev)單方面將收購競爭對手SABMiller的報價提高至790億英鎊，以平息可能破壞這筆史上第三大併購交易的投資者抗議。
The maker of Budweiser and Stella Artois beers decided at a board meeting on Monday to boost its takeover offer, in order to stem growing pressure from some SABMiller shareholders to revise the terms following a steep drop in the value of sterling.
旗下擁有百威(Budweiser)和時代(Stella Artois)等啤酒品牌的百威英博在週一的董事會上決定提高收購報價，以化解SABMiller一些股東的日益上升的壓力，他們要求在英鎊匯率大幅下跌後修改收購條款。
AB InBev said yesterday that each SABMiller investor could choose between ￡45 a share in cash or a mostly stock alternative now worth ￡51.14, which will not be tradeable for five years. The new terms represent an increase of ￡1 a share on the cash offer and an increase of about 88p a share on the stock alternative in a deal to create the world’s dominant brewer by market share. AB InBev declared its revised offer “final”, meaning that it will not be able to increase it again.
百威英博昨日表示，SABMiller投資者可以選擇每股45英鎊現金，或者以股票爲主的替代選擇，其現在價值爲每股51.14英鎊，但在5年內不可交易。新的收購條款代表着現金收購報價每股提高1英鎊，股票替代方案的報價每股提高約0.88英鎊，這筆交易將締造一家在全球佔統治地位的啤酒釀造商（以市場佔有率計算）。百威英博稱修改後的報價爲“最終”價格，這意味着該公司不能再上調報價。
SABMiller said that Jan du Plessis, its chairman, had spoken to Olivier Goudet, his counterpart at AB InBev, on Friday last week about the takeover “in light of recent exchange rate volatility and market movements”. It said that they did not discuss or agree terms. It would consult with shareholders to review the revised offer.
SABMiller表示，上週五，“鑑於最近的匯率波動和市場走勢”，該公司董事長杜立石(Jan Du Plessis)與百威英博董事長奧利維爾•古戴(Olivier Goudet)商談了這筆收購交易。SABMiller表示，兩位董事長沒有討論或商定收購條款。SABMiller將徵求股東意見，評估修改後的報價。
AB InBev’s decision to alter its offer followed weeks of complaints from investors over the original terms of the complex agreement. Martin Gilbert, chief executive of one of SABMiller’s shareholders, Aberdeen Asset Management, had earlier said his company was “leading the charge” for renewed terms.
在投資者對於這項複雜協議的原始條款抱怨數週後，百威英博決定修改報價。SABMiller股東之一安本(Aberdeen Asset Management)首席執行官馬丁•吉爾伯特(Martin Gilbert)早些時候表示，他的公司“帶頭要求”修改收購條款。
Aberdeen said the new deal “remains unacceptable as it both undervalues the company and continues to favour SABMiller’s two major shareholders”.
安本表示，新的協議“仍不可接受，因爲它既低估了這家公司，而且繼續有利於SABMiller的兩家主要股東”。
But Trevor Stirling, analyst at Bernstein, said the total cost to AB InBev of the increased offer was $2bn on top of an already high price.
但伯恩斯坦(Bernstein)分析師特雷弗•斯特林(Trevor Stirling)表示，百威英博修改後報價較之前已是很高的報價高出20億美元。
Hedge fund managers had been arguing that the mostly stock alternative was designed to appeal to SABMiller shareholders Altria, the US tobacco company, and BevCo, investment vehicle of the Santo Domingo brewing family. They own about 40 per cent of SABMiller .
對衝基金經理此前辯稱，以股票爲主的替代方案旨在吸引SABMiller股東美國菸草公司奧馳亞(Altria)以及桑託•多明戈(Santo Domingo)釀造家族旗下投資機構BevCo。這兩家公司持有SABMiller約40%股權。
