Brazilian beer giant buys Banks DIH shares to take over Banks Barbados

Last Updated on Tuesday, 8 December 2015, 15:16 by GxMedia

Reproduced from Barbados Nation

Banks DIH (Guyana) Limited has sold its shares in Banks Holdings Limited, paving the way for the Brazilian beer giant, AmBev, to take over of that Barbadian company, according to the Barbados Nation newspaper.

Chairman of Banks DIH, Clifford Reis declined to speak on the matter when contacted by Demerara Waves Online News.

The Barbados Nation quoted BHL Chairman, Anthony King as saying that Banks DIH sealed the deal for AmBev’s subsidiary, SLU Beverages, to get ownership of BHL.

King acknowledged that Banks DIH Guyana Limited sold the more than 6.5 million BHL shares it owned to AmBev last week in a trade worth more than $42 million on the Barbados Stock Exchange. The stock was sold at $7.10 per share.

The AmBev/Banks DIH Guyana deal has effectively any chances of Ansa McAl getting control of BHL, which has been a major competitor  of Ansa’s Carib and Stag beers.

There are about 65 million issued and outstanding BHL shares and AmBev now has more than half of them.

Ansa McAL owns about 11.7 million BHL shares which could earn it $83 million if the company sold them to AmBev.

In its most recent circular, BHL’s Directors told shareholders that they should reject  Ansa McAl’s offer of $7.20 per share and accept AmBev’s $7.10 per share even though it was lower than Ansa McAl’s.

In justifying their position, the directors said Ansa McAl’s offer of $7.20 would only remain in place if the Trinidadian company was able to get control of more than 51 percent of BHL’s total issued shares.

However, King said that would have been possible only if AmBev or SLU had sold some of its shares to Ansa McAl.