SABMiller (SAB) has announced that the UK High Court case examining its proposal to hold two separate shareholder votes on the AB InBev (ABI) takeover offer will not be concluded today.
SABMiller said in a statement at 3.45pm that the court hearing will continue at 10.30am tomorrow and it will “provide a further update in respect of the hearing in due course”.
The brewer is proposing that its two largest investors, Colombia’s Santo Domingo family and cigarette maker Altria, should be treated as a separate class of shareholder for the vote as other SAB shareholders are unhappy by the different cash and equity terms being taken up by the pair.
A number of SAB shareholders have protested that the post-Brexit fall in the pound effectively makes the cash/shares option – which has a lengthy lock-in period preventing most ordinary shareholders from taking it up – significantly more valuable than the straight cash offer.
AB InBev upped its final cash offer from £44 per share to £45 per share, which was recommended by the SAB board subject to gaining 75% approval from shareholders in a vote excluding the Santo Domingo family and Altria.
The vote is set for 28 September, with the deal expected to be completed on 10 October.
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