BRUSSELS (AP) — Any talk of a union between Budweiser and Miller — in fact, any talk of the creation of beer behemoth reaching all parts of the globe for that matter — should be put off for now as the owners of two of the world’s most famous beers continue to haggle over the terms of a merger.
Earlier Wednesday, Budweiser’s Belgian-Brazilian owner Anheuser-Busch InBev sweetened its offer for SABMiller to more than 68 billion pounds ($104 billion) but the reply remained as bitter as the rejection of the two previous proposals.
It’s just not enough.
“AB InBev is very substantially undervaluing SABMiller,” said SABMiller chairman Jan du Plessis.
There was no outright rejection that a merger is possible so it remains possible that AB InBev could find a more genial response if it raises its offer further.
Were an agreement to eventually emerge, the combined company would have 31 percent of the global beer market, dwarfing the next biggest player, Heineken, which has 9 percent of the market. As well as bringing together the classic U.S. favorites, the merger would also see AB InBev’s Stella Artois and SABMiller’s Grolsch in the same stable… CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL STORY AT USA TODAY_
