FB Roundup: AB InBev, Puig, and Toyota
AB InBev-SAB Miller deal approved by shareholders
Family-controlled brewer AB InBev won approval for its $100 billion-plus takeover of rival SABMiller, paving the way for the third-largest merger in corporate history.
Shareholders from both companies voted overwhelmingly in favour of the acquisition. The new combined company will posses an estimated 46% of global beer profits and 27% of global volume.
The deal, dubbed 'Megabrew', has also strengthened rivals who were able to scoop up the discarded pieced of SABMiller: the British-South African multinational had to discard most of its European assets as part of the deal.
The Belgian-based brewer will also shed 3% of its 150,000-strong workforce over the next three years. The cuts will contribute to its excepted $1.4 billion annual savings.
The takeover will create the world's largest brewer with an estimated market capitalisation of $275 billion. The combined group will mean one in four beers around the world will be sold by AB InBev.
Puig to buy stake in Brazil's Granado
Spanish fashion and fragrance firm Puig, owned by the eponymous family, has this week agreed to pay about 500 million reais ($155 million) for a 35% stake in Brazilian competitor Grupo Granado.
According to two people with direct knowledge of the deal, who spoke anonymously to Reuters, said deal values Grupo Granado at about 1.42 billion reais and added that part of the proceeds will go to the owners in the form of a capital increase.
The acquisition could help Puig, which owns brands including Carolina Herrera and Nina Ricci, grow in Brazil—a country of 200 million that is ranked as the world's third largest cosmetics and beauty care market.
Barcelona-based Puig was founded in 1914 by Antonio Puig, and is currently controlled by third-generation family members. The group is much known for its family and business values and was awarded the IMD-Lombard Odier Global Family Business Award in 1998. The group had revenues of €1.2 billion ($1.3 billion) in 2010.
Toyota develops a new technology to improve agri production
Japan's Toyota Motor Corp, owned by the Toyoda family, has developed a new DNA analysis system that can be used to better identifying and select useful genetic information for agricultural plant improvement.
Called Genotyping by Random Amplicon Sequencing (GRAS), the cutting-edge technology can be used to improve the fuel efficiency of its vehicles to help prevent global warming, while also producing substantial time and cost savings.
Conventional agricultural plant improvement to increase crop yields involves selecting and interbreeding of parent varieties based on extensive past improvement data.
The new GRAS system can substantially simplify the process of identifying and selecting useful genetic information and has the potential to increase biofuel crop yields per unit area of land.
The Toyoda family founded Toyota in 1937.
