AB InBev To Sell Former SABMiller's CEE Business To Asahi In EUR 7.3 Bln Deal

(RTTNews) - Belgian brewer Anheuser-Busch InBev NV or AB InBev (BUD, AHBIF.PK), which recently acquired UK peer SABMiller plc.(SBMRY.PK, SAB.L), announced Tuesday that it has entered into a binding agreement with Asahi Group Holdings, Ltd. to sell the businesses formerly owned by SABMiller Limited in Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and Romania or CEE Business. The agreed enterprise value of the deal is 7.3 billion euros, subject to customary adjustments.

AB InBev said it had made commitments to the European Commission to sell the CEE Business under the business combination with SABMiller.

The sale is conditional upon EC regulatory approval. The disposal process has been carried out under the supervision of Mazars LLP in their role as EC monitoring trustee.

Closing is expected to take place in the first half of 2017 and shareholders will be updated in due course.

Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. and Lazard Frères & Co. LLC are acting as financial advisers to AB InBev in connection with the deal.

In October, AB InBev announced the completion of the divestiture of SABMiller's interest in the Peroni, Grolsch and Meantime brand families and associated businesses in Italy, the Netherlands, the UK and internationally. This excludes certain rights in the US.