SABMiller board to recommend final AB InBev offer

A glass with beer and a bottle of Corona are seen in this picture illustration November 5, 2015. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo

Thomson Reuters

LONDON (Reuters) - The board of brewer SABMiller will recommend shareholders approve the final takeover offer by Anheuser Busch InBev , the company said on Friday, capping a week of high drama about the fate of the consumer industry's biggest-ever merger.

AB InBev raised its cash offer to most shareholders by a pound-per-share on Tuesday, after the recent fall in the British currency made last year's deal less attractive.

"The board's decision was difficult given changes in circumstances since the board originally recommended £44 per share in cash last November," said SAB Chairman Jan du Plessis. "We believe the final cash consideration of £45 per share to be at the lower end of the range of values considered recommendable."

The board also unanimously decided that it intends to propose that its two largest shareholders, Altria and Bevco be treated as a separate class of shareholders.

(Reporting by Martinne Geller in London; Editing by Elaine Hardcastle and David Stamp)

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