Boom to bust in a just a few months

It never ceases to amaze me how quickly things can change in mega cap dealmaking.

Last year, markets witnessed record breaking takeovers - such as Anheuser-Busch Inbev's £75 billion takeover of SAB Miller and Royal Dutch Shell's £40 billion purchase of BG Group - but the first few months of this year has seen M&A activity fall of a cliff, with several major announced deals collapsing altogether.

Lipin in the limelight

I'm not in the habit of giving Bloomberg much praise as the journalists that work there are pretty good at praising themselves.

However, I have to admit I rather enjoyed this - http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-01-21/deal-of-the-week-controlling-the-m-a-story - from the mighty news outlet's M&A team.

Krafty 3G / Coincidence - part 3

Finally, SAB Miller announces a £70 billion plus recommended offer from Anheuser-Busch Inbev and confirms what I have been banging on about since the beginning of the year: that 2015 is the year ABI and 3G plan to bid for the FTSE 100 beer company. And in case you don't recall, here are links to some of my "exclusive" articles on the topic:

http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/markets/article-2953714/Burger-King-Brazilians-mull-audacious-75bn-bid-Foster-s-owner-SABMiller.html

Smokescreen

Here is a random thought for the day.

Whilst ruminating on the fact that SAB Miller and Anheuser-Busch Inbev asked for a second extension to the Takeover Panel's put-up or shut up deadline, I started to wonder: what was that Veja story in June about 3G weighing a multibillion takeover bid for Diageo all about?

Krafty 3G / Coincidence? - part 2

I'm a little surprised SAB Miller rolled over and accepted a £44.00 a share takeover from Anheuser-Busch Inbev.

I thought the FTSE 100 beer company would hold out for between £45.00 to £50.00 a share...

Krafty 3G / Coincidence?

Anheuser-Busch Inbev's latest press release made me chuckle.

Why? Well, back in February when I wrote in the Mail on Sunday that 3G and ABI were looking at SAB Miller I was told the boys from Brazil were weighing making an approach pitched at £45.00 a share but had the firepower to go all the way up to £50.00 a share. And back then SAB Miller's shares were trading around the £36.00 level. Here is a link to that piece:

Another Betaville scoop confirmed!

I realise the "big" news this morning is the decision by Anheuser-Busch Inbev to announce its £42.15 a share/£68 billion offer for SAB Miller to the London market.

But I would just like to point out that another one of little old Betaville's scoopettes has finally been been confirmed - only it slipped under the radar as I never received the formal press release (not sure why, perhaps LDC's PR advisers don't like me very much).

Coincidence? - part 6

Apologies for the delayed post Betavillers - I have been out and about all day.

Anyway, here is a little snippet on the SAB Miller situation - apparently the equity research department of investment bank Goldman Sachs, recently appointed as adviser to the FTSE 100 company, was today "restricted" on the Molson Coors Brewing Company, which has joint venture with SAB Miller in the US.

Top of the market? - part 2

I was hoping to revisit the "top of the market" theme once things calmed down this weekend but it would appear Lina Saigol, the Companies Editor at the Financial Times, has beaten me to the punch (this often happened to me when I was a cub M&A reporter at the The Daily Telegraph in the mid-noughties).

Her column today in the Financial Times echoes what I have been thinking all week: the last time Anheuser-Busch Inbev lot and their backers at 3G pulled the trigger on a mega deal it was pretty much the top of the last bull market.

Coincidence? - part 5

Apologies dear readers for banging on about this ad nauseam but I see Bloomberg revealed this evening that Anheuser-Busch Inbev "reached out" to Altria, SAB Miller's largest shareholder, before the Brazlian brewer's approach to the FTSE 100 company was announced on Wednesday.

So, it would appear the latest Bloomberg tale reinforces my argument from last night that it was crucial for little old Betaville to be the first news outlet on Tuesday afternoon to report the rumours about Altria cancelling its attendance at the Bank of America Merrill Lynch conference and the renewed speculation about a takeover bid for SAB Miller.

Coincidence? - part 4

Here is a highly amusing tweet from Ed Hammond at Bloomberg:

ed hammond ‏@EdHammondNY  Sep 16

I will strawpedo an entire keg of Beck's if any news outlet can produce a "scoop" predating SAB's public statement on ABI's approach

I'm presuming Ed - who is one of the best M&A reporters on the deal reporting circuit and, I'm told by sources, is a top bloke - hasn't seen Bryce Elder's stock market report in the Financial Times on Wednesday morning or, indeed, my blog posting on Tuesday afternoon on little old Betaville regarding the speculation ABI is about to pounce on SAB Miller.

Coincidence? - part 3

Navel-gazing in financial journalism is reaching a new high.

Indeed, yesterday evening Bloomberg carried out its own investigation into why SAB Miller was forced to stick out a takeover announcement regarding a $250 billion tie-up with Anheuser-Busch InBev. Here is a link:

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-09-16/ab-inbev-sabmiller-race-to-finish-as-takeover-rules-force-hand

Coincidence? - part 2 - CORRECTED

Quelle surprise - Anheuser-Busch Inbev, the world's largest brewer, has finally coughed up to what I have been banging on about for the whole of 2015. That ABI wants to buy SAB Miller, the maker of Peroni and Grolsch, for almost £75 billion (that's a rough figure by the way).

Hacks over at the Financial Times are claiming to have triggered an announcement from SAB Miller. Apparently, the FTSE 100 beer giant shoved out an announcement this morning before the Pink' Un could publish following enquiries from the venerable newspaper's intrepid journos about the brewer receiving a takeover approach from ABI.