Anheuser-Busch InBev (Euronext: ABI) (NYSE: BUD) and CVC Capital Partners ("CVC") announced today that they have completed the sale of AB InBev's Central European operations, as previously communicated on 15 October, to funds advised by CVC ("CVC Funds") for an enterprise value of approximately USD 2.2 billion and additional rights to a future payment estimated to be as much as USD 800 million contingent on the CVC Funds' return on their initial investment. Included in the sale are AB InBev's operations, to be renamed StarBev, in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia and Slovakia.
As part of the agreement, StarBev will brew Stella Artois, Beck's, Löwenbräu and Spaten and distribute Hoegaarden and Leffe in the above countries under license from AB InBev. AB InBev will continue to brew Staropramen in Russia and Ukraine and to distribute it in several other countries including the US, Germany and the UK.
Barclays Capital and Lazard acted as financial advisors to AB InBev and Clifford Chance acted as legal advisor. Freshfields acted as legal counsel to CVC.
The enclosed information constitutes regulated information as defined in the Belgian Royal Decree of 14 November 2007 regarding the duties of issuers of financial instruments which have been admitted for trading on a regulated market.