Anheuser-Busch InBev Completes Sale of Oriental Brewery

The divestiture of OB is part of AB InBev’s ongoing de-leveraging program and generates proceeds that will be used to repay debt incurred as a result of the combination of InBev and Anheuser-Busch.

27 Jul 2009 Anheuser-Busch InBev has completed the previously announced sale of Oriental Brewery (OB) to an affiliate of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. L.P. (KKR) for 1.8 billion USD.

Under the terms of the agreement, AB InBev will continue its relationship with OB through granting OB exclusive licenses to distribute certain brands in South Korea including Budweiser, Bud Ice and Hoegaarden and by having an ongoing interest in OB through an agreed earnout. In addition, AB InBev has the right but not the obligation to reacquire OB after five years at predetermined financial terms.

The divestiture of OB is part of AB InBev’s ongoing de-leveraging program and generates proceeds that will be used to repay debt incurred as a result of the combination of InBev and Anheuser-Busch. The impact on recurring results are immaterial and AB InBev expects to record a non-recurring capital gain of 440 million USD in the third quarter of 2009.

JP Morgan, Deutsche Bank and Lazard acted as financial advisors to AB InBev. Kim & Chang and Sullivan & Cromwell LLP acted as legal counsel.