Baker McKenzie Advises SMBC on Financing of Asahi’s Acquisitions from AB InBev
Tokyo, Japan, 14 April 2017 – Baker & McKenzie (Gaikokuho Joint Enterprise) recently advised Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC) on the financing of the acquisition by Asahi Group Holdings, Ltd. (Asahi) from Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV (AB InBev) of (i) the Peroni, Grolsch and Meantime beer brands and related businesses and (ii) AB InBev’s businesses in the Czech Republic, Slovak Republic, Poland, Hungary and Romania.
Asahi purchased the Peroni, Grolsch and Meantime beer brands and related businesses from AB Inbev for EUR 2.55 billion (approximately JPY 294.5 billion) in October 2016 and AB InBev’s businesses in the Czech Republic, Slovak Republic, Poland, Hungary and Romania relating to the Pilsner Urquell, Kozel, Tyskie and other brands and related assets for EUR 7.3 billion (approximately JPY 873.7 billion) in March 2017.
These deals were related to AB InBev’s USD 105 billion acquisition of SABMiller, which closed in October 2016, as these brands/businesses needed to be spun-off under the anti-trust clearances for the main AB Inbev/SABMiller deal.
Gavin Raftery and Shinichiro Kitamura lead the Baker McKenzie team on both of these deals.
“We are honoured to have supported SMBC and Asahi on these landmark transactions,” noted Kitamura.
Raftery, Chair of Baker McKenzie’s Global Acquisition Finance Practice, added “These complex, multi-jurisdictional transactions once again demonstrate the strength and commerciality of Baker McKenzie’s global acquisition finance practice.”