InBev announced this morning (ADST) that it has finalised the US$52b purchase of Anheuser-Busch, following approval from shareholders of both companies. The combination creates the global leader in beer and one of the world’s top five consumer products companies. The name of InBev will change to Anheuser-Busch InBev, with Anheuser-Busch becoming a wholly owned subsidiary of Anheuser-Busch InBev and will retain its current headquarters in St. Louis. The belgian-based brewer will now manage... ...Read more »
The purchase of Dairy Farmers by National Foods will be implemented next week after receiving court approval today… Australian Co-operative Foods Limited (ACF), which trades as Dairy Farmers, today announced that the National Foods offer to acquire all of the shares in the Co-operative had been approved by the New South Wales Supreme Court. National Foods won shareholder approval last week for their $910 million proposal. ACF Chairman Ian Langdon said the court’s approval of the scheme... ...Read more »
The Board of Coca-Cola Amatil has decided to fend off the takeover offer made by Lion Nathan, believing it not to be in the best interests of their shareholders. Yesterday they noted “material deficiencies” in the offer made by Lion Nathan, which valued Australia’s largest soft drink bottler at around 10.8 x FY2008 earnings (or about $7.6b). The Board’s main concern is that the price to earnings multiple value of 10.8 is below the other major beverage deals made in Oceania... ...Read more »
Lion Nathan Limited has confirmed that it is in discussions with Coca-Cola Amatil Limited (CCA) regarding a potential combination of the two companies, which would result in Lion Nathan acquiring all of the issued shares in CCA. The announcement was made just before midday, after they had earlier asked for a trading halt to be placed on their shares until an announcement was made. The proposed combination would create the leading Australian and New Zealand beverage company, with a diversified portfolio... ...Read more »
Australia’s largest soft drink bottler, Coca-Cola Amatil, has today informed shareholders that brewer Lion Nathan has made a A$7.61b takeover offer for CCA. The news comes following rumours circulating of a pending merger between Lion Nathan and Coca-Cola Amatil (CCA). Lion Nathan, Australia’s second largest brewer, entered a trading halt this morning in the wake of fresh rumours in the Australian Financial Review that merger discussions with Australia’s biggest soft drink bottler... ...Read more »
Australian Co-operative Foods Limited (ACF), which trades as Dairy Farmers, and National Foods today announced that ACF members had approved the acquisition proposal by National Foods. On August 25 Dairy Farmers announced that National Foods had outbid other interested parties, with their $910 million offer. The deal involved a joint venture with Warrnambool Cheese and Butter for the cheese business of Dairy Farmers. National Foods have also since come to an arrangement to allow Fonterra to acquire... ...Read more »
SABMiller is about to lose its title as the ‘world’s biggest brewing company’, with the deal between InBev and Anheuser-Busch now almost complete. Belgian brewer InBev announced overnight that a majority of Anheuser-Busch Cos. Inc. shareholders have voted to approve the proposed combination of InBev and Anheuser-Busch during a special shareholder meeting. InBev shareholders approved the combination on September 29. Upon close of the transaction, America’s largest brewer -... ...Read more »
Molson Coors has been identified as the mystery stakeholder in Australia’s largest brewer, Foster’s, strengthening speculation of a takeover. Deutsche Bank bought a 5.26% stake in Foster’s on behalf of a previously unidentified client on September 25, while rumours circulated that the stake could be an indication of a possible takeover bid in the near future. Molson Coors, which has operations in the US, Canada and the UK, made the announcement overnight when presenting their third... ...Read more »
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has granted final authorisation for the continuation of milk pricing and milk purchasing policies between Dairy Farmers Milk Co-operative (DFMC) Limited and Australian Cooperative Food Limited (ACF) following the sale of ACF to National Foods. DFMC acquires raw milk from its farmer members and sells this milk to ACF for processing into dairy products. National Foods proposed a $910m takeover of ACF in August, which received the approval of both... ...Read more »
Japanese-based Suntory Limited has signed an agreement with Danone Asia Pty Ltd, a subsidiary of Groupe Danone, to purchase their beverage business Frucor. The sale was completed for an amount of over €600 million (about A$1.2b). Danone announced a review of Frucor, their Australian and New Zealand-based beverage business, in August as they continued to refocus on becoming a health and wellness company. They began the bidding process in September with a number of suitors reportedly keen... ...Read more »