PIC discusses concerns with AB InBev
A barman pours a beer produced by brewing company SABMiller at a bar in Cape Town, South Africa. Picture: Mike Hutchings A barman pours a beer produced by brewing company SABMiller at a bar in Cape Town, South Africa. Picture: Mike Hutchings
Johannesburg - SABMiller’s fourth-largest shareholder, the Public Investment Corporation, met with Anheuser-Busch InBev Chief Executive Officer Carlos Brito in South Africa last week to discuss concerns that a merger of the world’s two biggest brewers would affect employment in Africa’s most industrialised economy.
The money-manager, owned by the South African government, reiterated its demand that the combined company be listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange and preserve local jobs, spokesman Sekgoela Sekgoela said in an emailed response to questions on Monday.
The PIC also said AB InBev, based in Leuven, Belgium, must support secondary industries linked to brewing, including agriculture, and asked how a takeover would benefit the South African economy, he said.
AB InBev agreed to pay almost $106 billion for SABMiller earlier this month in a takeover that would create a brewer selling one in every third beer worldwide. The deal remains tentative, and the two companies have until October 28 to hammer out a formal agreement.
The PIC owns a 3.14 percent stake in SABMiller, which is based in London but can trace its roots back to 19th century Johannesburg.
BLOOMBERG