After months of speculation and shady news reports from European news sources in the last week, it was officially announced yesterday that Anheuser-Busch has received an unsolicited $65-per-share offer from Belgian brewer InBev to buy the brewer. With more than 713 million shares outstanding, the bid is valued at more than $46.3 billion.
Anheuser-Busch’s board of directors will evaluate the proposal and make its decision to InBev’s proposal in due course. This could take months before a definitive course is set.
The $65-per-share price is a roughly 24 percent premium to Anheuser-Busch’s closing price of $52.58 a share May 22 this year, the day before a Financial Times blog cited anonymous sources who said InBev is preparing its bid for Anheuser-Busch.
Anheuser-Busch became the exclusive U.S. importer for InBev’s European portfolio, which includes beer brands Stella Artois, Beck’s and Bass Pale Ale, in February 2007.