AB InBev’s $104bn SAB Miller Deal Rocked by Fresh Investor Unrest

26 Sep 2016 --- Anheuser Busch InBev’s (AB InBev’s) proposed £79bn ($104bn) takeover of SAB Miller has been hit by another investor unhappy at what is set to be the biggest deal in British corporate history, according to a report. 

Investor Ash Park Capital is thought to have written to other SAB investors last month highlighting that it was likely to vote against the deal and encouraged other investors to follow suit, according to a report in the Sunday Telegraph.

Ash Park Capital is joining two other investors, Aberdeen Asset Management and Swiss firm Vontobel, which are thought to be planning to object to the deal.

Aberdeen Asset Management and Vontobel own around two percent of the shareholding in SAB Miller.

The disclosure of the voting intentions of Ash Park Capital comes ahead of a shareholder meeting on Wednesday this week.

Despite the protest from a number of investors, the deal is expected to be approved.

However, the voting is complicated as shareholders BevCo and Altria Group, which own around 40 percent of SABMiller's shares, will be hived off into a separate entity from other shareholders when the deal is voted on.

For the deal to be approved, both votes would need approval from 75 percent of shareholders.

The SABMiller board has recommended that shareholders accept the Belgian brewer's all-cash offer of £45 ($59) a share, an increase from its earlier price of £44 ($58), valuing the London-listed firm at around £79 billion ($104bn).