Bottling it

14 September 2014 By Quentin Webb

The $44 bln Dutch brewer reportedly rebuffed an approach from its London-listed rival. Yet a deal could yield huge cost cuts and outwit sector giant AB InBev. Shareholders should ask if the price was wrong – or whether the Heineken family just wants independence at all costs.

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Global brewer SABMiller has made a takeover approach to the family owners of Heineken that has been rejected, Bloomberg reported on Sunday, citing people with knowledge of the matter. SAB and Heineken both declined to comment.

The newswire said SABMiller’s approach was made as part of a strategy to protect itself from any potential bid from SAB’s larger rival, world No. 1 brewer Anheuser-Busch InBev.

A tie-up between SABMiller, which has a market capitalisation of 55 billion pounds ($89 billion), and Heineken, with a market capitalisation of 34 billion euros ($44 billion), would combine the world’s second- and third-largest brewers.

Any potential takeover of Heineken would need the approval of the founding family, which controls the brewer via holding vehicle Heineken Holding.

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