UK court rules on shares in SABMiller beer group

SABMiller shareholders can be treated as two separate groups when they vote on the brewer’s £79bn (€91bn) takeover by Anheuser Busch InBev, a court in London has ruled, granting a request from SAB aimed at making the vote as fair as possible.

The marriage of the world’s largest beer makers was agreed last year with an offer of £44 a share in cash for general shareholders and a discounted cash-and-stock offer aimed at the largest two — Altria Group and Bevco — to help them avoid large tax bills.

The agreement grew contentious this summer after a fall in sterling increased the value of the cash-and-stock offer above that of the cash offer.