AB InBev Pays $3 Billion To Reacquire Full Ownership of U.S. Can Manufacturing Ops
Minority stake in the business was sold to investor group led by Apollo during the pandemic to raise cash and pay off some of the brewer’s high debt at the time.
AB InBev has reacquired full control of its can manufacturing operations in the U.S., according to several news reports. The roughly $3 billion transaction buys back the 49.9% stake the company sold to investors during the Covid-19 pandemic. Apollo led that investment group.
AB InBev will pay cash for the minority stake, using an option agreed to in the December 2020 deal that allowed the company to raise cash during the pandemic to help pay off some of its debt, which reportedly stood at $87 billion at the time. Five years prior, AB InBev had largely funded its acquisition of SABMiller with debt.
AB InBev’s canning operations include seven factories across the U.S., news reports noted.
Andy Hanacek has covered meat, poultry, bakery and snack foods as a B2B editor for nearly 20 years, and has toured hundreds of processing plants and food companies, sharing stories of innovation and technological advancement throughout the food supply chain. In 2018, he won a Folio:Eddie Award for his unique "From the Editor's Desk" video blogs, and he has brought home additional awards from Folio and ASBPE over the years. In addition, Hanacek led the Meat Industry Hall of Fame for several years and was vice president of communications for We R Food Safety, a food safety software and consulting company.
