Anheuser Busch InBev has reached an agreement with the families who control Grupo Modelo to buy the portion of the Mexican brewer it doesn’t already own for $20.1 billion,
Reuters reported.
Modelo, founded in 1925, is Mexico’s largest brewer, the article noted.
Two Modelo board members will invest $1.5 billion of their proceeds in AB InBev shares and will join AB InBev’s board, according to the report.
AB InBev inherited a 50.4% stake in Modelo when it bought Anheuser-Busch in 2008. The conglomerate’s initial effort to acquire the remainder of Modelo was halted when Modelo’s controlling Fernandez family began arbitration proceedings, arguing that the deal would break an agreement that Modelo should be consulted over change in control of the stake, the Reuters report said. While the arbitration panel ruled in favor of AB InBev in 2010, AB InBev executives joined the Modelo board, and “pressure emerged from some family members and other investors to look for the sale,” Reuters reported.
Modelo will also sell its 50% stake in Crown Imports, a partnership with Constellation Brands Inc., to Constellation for $1.85 billion. Crown Imports distributes Modelo beers in the U.S. under a deal that expires in 2016. AB InBev won’t try to buy out Constellation and distribute Modelo itself because of antitrust concerns, the Reuters report said. (Source: Reuters, June 29, 2012.)
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