South Korea: AB InBev completes Oriental Brewery sale

27 July, 2009

Anheuser-Busch InBev has completed the previously announced sale of Oriental Brewery (OB) to an affiliate of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co for  US$1.8 billion.

Under the terms of the agreement, AB InBev will continue its relationship with OB through granting OB exclusive licenses to distribute certain brands in South Korea including Budweiser, Bud Ice and Hoegaarden and by having an ongoing interest in OB through an agreed earnout.  In addition, AB InBev has the right but not the obligation to reacquire OB after five years at pre- determined financial terms.

The divestment of OB is part of AB InBev’s ongoing de-leveraging programme and generates proceeds that will be used to repay debt incurred as a result of the combination of InBev and Anheuser-Busch. 

AB InBev said the impact on recurring results are immaterial and AB InBev expects to record a non-recurring capital gain of $440 million in the third quarter of 2009.

JP Morgan, Deutsche Bank and Lazard acted as financial advisors to AB InBev. Kim & Chang and Sullivan & Cromwell acted as legal counsel.