Takeover offer extended by a week
BREWER SABMiller has extended the deadline for rival AnheuserBusch (AB) InBev to make a formal $100 billion-plus (R1.37 trillion) takeover offer by a week to finalise shareholder support for the deal. The two companies said yesterday that London’s panel on takeovers and mergers had granted SABMiller’s request to change the deadline to 5pm on Wednesday, November 11. The panel has already granted extensions since AB InBev and SABMiller reached a preliminary takeover agreement on October 13. The companies said AB InBev had entered into the funding facilities, but needed to finalise discussions and satisfy preconditions. AB InBev is offering £44 (R935) per SABMiller share, along with a discounted alternative mostly of shares and designed for SABMiller’s two largest shareholders, cigarette maker Altria and BevCo, the vehicle of Colombia’s Santo Domingo family, who together own 40.5 percent of the target company. The takeover would create a brewing colossus and be the largest of a British-based company and the fourth biggest in corporate history. – Reuters
OCEANA GROUP
WORKERS at the Hout Bay Fishmeal Factory have scored a victory in the fight to keep their jobs after the Oceana Group announced the factory would remain operational. For the workers, Tuesday’s agreement to keep the factory going was a victory because it meant 98 jobs had been saved. The announcement came after Oceana concluded a lengthy Section 189 consultation with workers and their representatives. “Oceana will now align its Hout Bay operations to other fishing operations within Oceana Group and provide guaranteed work for two days for every week of the year, irrespective of the availability of fish,” said chief executive Francois Kuttel. “Oceana is in the business of opening new facilities – not closing plants down,” he said. The factory would remain in full operation, with staff keeping their jobs and receiving wages “in line with their historic rates for days which they have worked during production”, he said. Production days will increase from 60 to 120 to maximise turnover. The Western Cape SA Communist Party welcomed the decision and commended the Food and Allied Workers Union “for defending the rights of the fishmeal factory workers”. Kuttel said Oceana was “an important part of Hout Bay’s heritage and future”. – ANA
GLENCORE