Largest brewer adds the maker of Corona
Anheuser-Busch InBev to buy Grupo Modelo for $20 billion
ST. LOUIS – Anheuser-Busch InBev is acquiring Mexican brewer Grupo Modelo, the maker of Corona beer, in a deal valued at $20.1 billion, the companies announced early Friday.
Anheuser-Busch InBev, which already owns a 50 percent stake in Modelo, will buy the remaining stock for $9.15 per share.
Under the terms of the deal, the Mexican brewer will take a series of steps to “simplify Grupo Modelo’s corporate structure,” at which time Anheuser-Busch InBev will tender an all-cash offer for the shares, the companies said. Anheuser-Busch InBev said it expects the combination to yield annual synergies of at least $600 million. The deal is expected to close in the first quarter of 2013, pending regulatory approvals.
Grupo Modelo’s headquarters will remain in Mexico City and the company will maintain a local board of directors. The company, founded in 1925, has 37,000 employees and brews and distributes 13 brands, including Corona, Modelo Especial, Victoria, Pacifico and Negra Modelo.
Anheuser-Busch InBev, the world’s largest brewer, has a portfolio of more than 200 brands and 116,000 employees. Combined, the two companies’ annual revenue will total nearly $47 billion and 150,000 employees. The deal will also boost Anheuser-Busch InBev’s beer volume from 353 million hectoliters to 409 million hectoliters.
As a closely held business, Modelo is organized in a series of interlocking trusts and companies to maintain the Fernandez family’s control of the business.
The tender offer is about a 30 percent premium to the closing price of Grupo Modelo’s series C shares on June 22.
Grupo Modelo also announced Friday that it will sell its 50 percent stake in Crown Imports, the joint venture that exports and markets its Corona brands to the U.S., to its partner Constellation Brands for $1.85 billion.
By giving up control of Corona’s distribution in the U.S., Modelo hopes the Crown divestiture will head off any antitrust concerns about the Anheuser-Busch InBev acquisition. An Anheuser-Busch InBev/Modelo combination would give the brewer a 53 percent market share in the U.S., and antitrust regulators could block or impose conditions on the deal.