UK court says SABMiller shareholders can be split into two classes

LONDON, Aug 23 (Reuters) - A UK court has ruled that SABMiller (Frankfurt: 891295 - news) shareholders can be treated as two classes when they vote on the company's takeover by Anheuser Busch InBev , granting the request from the brewer for a split.

The 79 billion pound ($103 billion) deal requires 75 percent approval by SAB shareholders. The largest two, which together control about 40 percent of the shares, have already signalled their support.

SAB requested that those two shareholders - cigarette maker Altria Group (NYSE: MO - news) and Bevco, a vehicle of Colombia's Santo Domingo family - be treated as a separate class.

A split would effectively raise the hurdle, since each class would have to approve the terms by three-quarters.

($1 = 0.7663 pounds) (Reporting by Martinne Geller in London; editing by David Clarke (Toronto: CKI.TO - news) )