Anheuser-Busch InBev NV’s $100-billion-plus acquisition of SABMiller Plc is closing in on getting approved by China’s Ministry of Commerce after the companies agreed to divest some assets, people familiar with the matter said, which would put the biggest beer deal in history nearer to completion.
Though the government may attach some conditions to the deal, regulators see no major hurdles, one of the people said, asking not to be identified because the deliberations are private. Some local beermakers told the ministry that they don’t object to the takeover as it won’t have a big impact on the Chinese market, another person said. SABMiller shares rose 1.5 pence to 4,304.50 pence as of 1:04 p.m. in London, erasing a previous decline.
With people familiar with the process saying that the U.S. Justice Department will probably approve the deal this month, the maker of Budweiser is nearing the completion of a merger that could result in a brewer controlling about half of the industry’s profits. The companies have had to agree to some divestitures to clinch regulatory approvals worldwide, including the sale of SABMiller’s stake in its venture with China Resources Beer (Holdings) Co.
AB InBev and SABMiller declined to comment. China Resources and the commerce ministry didn’t immediately respond to queries.
The merger plan, which the two companies reached in November as a way to gain access to emerging markets, has already won antitrust approval in more than a dozen jurisdictions, including the European Union.
In March, China Resources announced it would buy out SABMiller’s stake in their Chinese venture for $1.6 billion. That deal is also nearing approval from China’s commerce ministry, the people said.
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