Chinese regulators approve merger of Anheuser- Busch InBev-SABMiller

LONDON — A huge beer merger took two major steps toward completion Friday.

Anheuser-Busch InBev said Friday it had received conditional approval from Chinese regulators for its merger with SABMiller after the companies agreed to sell SABMiller’s stake in the maker of Snow, the world’s best-selling beer. The conditional approval by Chinese authorities is the last major regulatory hurdle for the transaction.

SABMiller’s board, meanwhile, said it would recommend that shareholders accept an increased cash offer by Anheuser-Busch InBev that valued it at about $104 billion.

The merger would create an industry giant accounting for about 30 percent of global beer sales and would give Anheuser-Busch, already the world’s largest brewer, a substantial operation in Africa, where it has little presence, and greater dominance in Latin America.

To win regulatory approval in China, Anheuser-Busch InBev agreed in March to sell SABMiller’s 49 percent stake in the maker of Snow to China Resources Beer, a state-owned brewer, for about $1.6 billion. China Resources Beer already owns the other 51 percent of the brewer, C.R. Snow.

“The Ministry of Commerce’s approval is a significant milestone for the transaction,” Anheuser-Busch InBev said in a news release Friday. “It remains our objective to close the transaction in 2016.”

Anheuser-Busch InBev has received regulatory approval in 23 jurisdictions for the transaction, including China, the European Union, South Africa and the United States.

The brewer has entered into a number of agreements to sell assets from the combined company to satisfy regulators about the deal.