SABMiller plc was an Anglo–South African multinational brewing and beverage company headquartered in Woking, England on the outskirts of London until 10 October 2016 when it was acquired by AB InBev for US$107-billion.
[2] Since 10 October 2016, SABMiller is a business division of AB InBev, a Belgian multinational corporation with headquarters in Leuven.
[4] SABMiller was founded as South African Breweries in 1895 to serve a growing market of miners and prospectors in and around Johannesburg.
From the early 1990s onwards, the company increasingly expanded internationally, making several acquisitions in both emerging and developed markets.
[17] In 2008, SABMiller and Molson Coors created MillerCoors, a joint venture to produce beverages in the United States.
[23] In September 2014, the company made an unsuccessful attempt to acquire a controlling stake in Dutch rival Heineken International,[24] a move Bloomberg states was part of SABMiller's strategy to protect itself from a potential takeover bid from Anheuser-Busch InBev.
[25] On 27 November 2014, it was announced that SABMiller, The Coca-Cola Company and Gutsche Family Investments had agreed to combine the bottling operations of their non-alcoholic ready-to-drink beverages businesses in southern and east Africa.
[27] On 16 September 2015, Anheuser-Busch InBev made the acquisition bid for SABMiller that would unite the world's two biggest beermakers and control about half the industry's profit.
"[33][30] As per the agreement with the regulators, the former SABMiller sold to Molson Coors full ownership of the Miller brand portfolio outside of the U.S. and Puerto Rico for US$12 billion on 11 October 2016.
SABMiller grew from its original South African base into a global company with operations in both developed markets and emerging economies such as Eastern Europe, China and India.
Plans had not yet been revealed for the operation in Zug, Switzerland which controlled SABMiller's central & eastern European beer brands.
The office in Woking (UK) was expected to remain open for a transitional period but the HQ in London's Stanhope Gate would close.
Before acquiring SAB Miller, AB InBev had agreed to sell its interests in Snow to China Resources Beer (Holdings) Co for $1.6 billion to satisfy regulators.
[19] The Foster's Group, now known as Carlton & United Brewing was a direct subsidiary of Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV until July 2020 when it was sold to Asahi Global.
As part of the agreements made with regulators before Anheuser-Busch InBev was allowed to acquire SABMiller, the company sold the Peroni, Meantime and Grolsch brands to Asahi Breweries of Japan on 13 October 2016.
The deal includes popular brands such as Pilsner Urquell, Tyskie, Lech, Dreher, Ursus, Timisoreana[10][11] and Kozel.
As per the agreement with the regulators prior to the 2016 sale, the company sold to Molson Coors full ownership of the Miller brand portfolio outside of the U.S. and Puerto Rico for US$12 billion.
"[7] Before the acquisition by AB InBev on 10 October 2016, the SABMiller brands included some classified by the company as "global beers", which are the flagships of SAB Miller: Foster's made in Australia, Pilsner Urquell from the Czech Republic, Tyskie made in Poland and Miller Genuine Draft.
One major study, undertaken by BioMed Central and published in 2013, examined the global CSR of three of the biggest manufacturers of alcohol - Pernod Ricard, SABMiller and AB InBev - and concluded it amounted to 'the illusion of righteousness'.
[45] In November 2010, the charity ActionAid published a report alleging that SABMiller has avoided paying a total of around £20 million of corporation tax in five African countries – Ghana, Mozambique, Tanzania, South Africa and Zambia – and in India.
[48] Since SABMiller had been acquired on 10 October 2016, and became a wholly owned business division of Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV, there was no longer a need for a management team or board of directors for this former company.
News reports indicated that "three ... SABMiller executive committee members - general counsel John Davidson, human resources head Johann Nel and Africa MD Mark Bowman - [would] stay on for a six-month transitional period only".