I have been a long time trader in ABInBev, though I became one indirectly and accidentally, through a stake I had taken a long time ago in Brahma, a Brazilian beverage company . That ongoing company became Ambev in 1999, which in turn was merged with Interbrew, the Belgian brewer, in 2004, and expanded to include Anheuser Busch, the US beer maker, in 2008 to end up being the largest beverage producer in the world. I made the bulk of my money in my holding life early, but Amber has remained in my own portfolio, a location holder that provides me exposure to both the beverage business and Latin America, while delivering positive results mainly.
It was thus with trepidation which i read the news record in mid-September that ABInBev (which owns 62% of Ambev) had approached SABMiller in regards to a takeover at a still-to-be-specified superior within the the latter’s market value. While it is completely possible to create value from acquisitions, I have argued that creating development through acquisitions is difficult to do, and so when the acquisition is of a sizable public company doubly.
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- Business wide communication – regarding all employees
- The likelihood to earn a performance based bonus
Since ABInBev’s control rests with 3G Capital, a group which i respect because of its investment acumen, it would be unfair to prejudge this deal without looking at the true numbers. So, we go here! The first casualty in deal making is common sense, as the fog of the deal, created by bankers, managers, consultants and journalists, clouds the numbers.
Not only do the truth is “control” and “synergy”, two words which i use in my weapons of mass distraction, thrown around casually to justify vast amounts of dollars in payments, nevertheless, you also see them used interchangeably. When you get a company, there are three (in support of three possible) motives that are constant with intrinsic value.
Undervaluation: You get a focus on company because you believe that the marketplace is mispricing the business and that you can purchase it for under its “fair” value. In place, you are behaving like any value investor would on the market and there is no need so that you can either change what sort of target company is run or look for synergy benefits. Control: You buy an organization that you believe is badly managed, with the intent of changing the way it is run. If you are directly on the first count and can make the necessary changes, the worthiness of the firm should increase under your management.
If you can pay significantly less than the “changed” value, you can claim the difference for yourself (as well as your stockholders). Synergy: You buy an organization that you believe, when combined with a business (or source) that you already own, will be able to do stuff that you cannot have done as different entities. The key variation between synergy and control is that control will not require another entity or even a change in managers.
It can be accomplished by the prospective company’s management, if they put their thoughts to it and hire some help perhaps. Synergy requires two entities coming together and is due to the combined entity’s capacity to take action that the average person entities would not have been able to deliver. Remember that these motives can co-exist in the same acquisition and are not mutually exclusive.
Acquisition Price: This is actually the price of which you can acquire the target company. If it’s an exclusive business, it will be negotiated and probably based on what others are paying for similar businesses. If it is a public company, it will be at a premium over the marketplace price, with the high quality a function of the continuing state of the M&A market and whether you have other potential bidders.
Status Quo Value: This is the value of the mark company, run by existing management and predicated on existing investing, dividend and financing policies. Restructured Value: This is the value of the mark company, with changes to investing, financing and dividend policies. Synergy value: This is approximated by valuing the combined company (with the synergy benefits built-in) and subtracting out the worthiness of the acquiring company, as a stand alone entity, and the restructured value of the prospective company. Hooking up these true quantities to the motives, here are the conditions you would need for each motive to make sense (alone).