Asahi offers to get SABmiller's beers in

Japan's Asahi has offered to pay €2.55bn to acquire SABMiller's Peroni, Grolsch, and Meantime beer brands from Anheuser-Busch InBev to help the merger swerve competition concerns.

AB Inbev, which agreed to the takeover of SAB in November, said it had received a binding offer from Asahi Group for the brands and associated businesses in Italy, the Netherlands, UK and internationally, with the exception of the rights in the United States for the Peroni and Grolsch brands.

Other European beer giants had been mooted as potential buyers, though Heineken, which has the leading position in most of these markets, would have faced daunting regulatory headwinds had it made a move, with Carlsberg and Turkey's Anadolu Efes felt to be unlikely to make the acquisition due to the effect on their balance sheets.

A sale has not yet been agreed until the SAB acquisition clears all regulatory hurdles and closes successfully, but a period of exclusivity has been given to Asahi as the companies begin a consultation on a potential sale of the brands and businesses.

As part of the ABI-SAB deal, the European Commission will also now need to clear Asahi as a purchaser of Royal Dutch Grolsch NV, Birra Peroni, Miller Brands UK, the Meantime Brewing Company.

"SABMiller has grown Peroni and Grolsch into world-renowned premium brands, and we are confident that, along with fast-growing modern craft brewer Meantime, they will continue to thrive and develop," said SAB chief executive Alan Clark. "These beers will continue to be part of SABMiller and sold and managed by us until the change of control."

After shaking hands on the deal, AB InBev said in November it would look at selling a number of SAB Miller’s premium European brands to satisfy any regulatory concerns that might come out of the takeover, having already agreed to sell its 58% holding in Miller Coors to avoid American regulators.

This sale will enable ABI to keep its own major brands, such as Budweiser and Leffe.

SAB's third-quarter results in January showed lager volumes up 3% across the group, driven by 7% growth in Latin America, while soft drink volumes frothed 8% higher thanks in part to double digit growth in Africa.

Last week, credit agency Moody's said the ABI-SAB merger was unlikely to alter the competitive landscape of the European beer market over the next 12-24 months as it will take time for the combined entity to hit its stride.

Moody's said although an ABI-SAB combination would result in significant shifts in market share in the UK, Italy and the Netherlands, ABI plans to sell most of SAB's assets in these countries, and there is "limited overlap" in other European beer markets.