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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

SABMiller to recommend AB Inbev deal despite value shift

By Danica Kirka Associated Press

LONDON – The board of brewer SABMiller says it intends to “recommend” that shareholders accept Anheuser-Busch InBev’s revised takeover offer, clearing the way for a shareholder vote on the mega-deal.

The decision comes only hours after AB InBev’s cleared the last regulatory hurdle for the 79 billion pound deal. Chinese regulatory authorities gave Friday the go-ahead for AB InBev to sell SABMiller’s stake in China’s Snow Breweries.

That approval capped a week of tumult after some shareholders sought an improved offer due to shifts in currency values.

The SABMiller board also said it intended to propose to a U.K. Court that its two biggest shareholders, Altria and BEVCO, be treated as a separate class of shareholders “and therefore to allow other SABMiller shareholders to vote on the revised offer separately.”

Other shareholders had objected because currency fluctuations had eroded the value of the bid.