SABMiller Plc rejected an informal takeover offer from Anheuser-Busch InBev NV of about $100 billion, that it considered too low, according to people familiar with the matter.
The initial proposal made last week, was worth slightly more than $61 a share. Its executives and some shareholders regard a deal at closer to $69 as representing a fair value, the people said.
A deal at $69 per share would value SABMiller at about $111 billion and would be the largest merger this year.
London-based SABMiller communicated to AB InBev the terms at which it would be willing to negotiate after the rejection, one of the people said. No final decision has been made on a potential formal offer.
SABMiller sells beers including Miller Lite, Coors Light and Blue Moon in the U.S. and Puerto Rico through Miller Coors, a joint venture with Denver-based Molson Coors Brewing Co.
“AB InBev is unlikely to have gone this far unless it intends to see it through,” Evercore ISIS analyst Robert Ottenstein said. Even at a higher price, “we still believe that a transaction with SABMiller would be financially and strategically compelling.”
If successful, the combination would create a dominant global player in the brewing industry and attract heavy scrutiny from antitrust regulators worldwide. Under British rules, AB InBev has until Oct. 14 to make an offer or announce it doesn’t intend to proceed.
