LONDON/AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Global brewer SABMiller made a preliminary takeover offer for smaller rival Heineken that was rejected by its controlling families, Bloomberg news agency reported on Sunday.
Citing people with knowledge of the matter, it said SABMILLER (SAB.LO)s approach was part of a strategy to protect itself from a potential takeover bid from its larger rival, world No.1 brewer Anheuser-Busch InBev
Speculation about an AB InBev move on SABMiller has been circling for months, as the world leader, known for its aggressive merger strategy, has largely digested its last acquisition. Talk of such a deal has intensified in the last week, according to sources who spoke on condition of anonymity.
SAB and HEINEKEN (HEIA.AM)both declined to comment on the matter.
A tie-up between SABMiller, which has a market value of 55 billion pounds ($90 billion), and Heineken, with a market value of 34 billion euros ($44 billion), would combine the world's second- and third-largest brewers, putting brands like Miller Lite, Heineken, Peroni, Amstel and Strongbow Cider under the same roof.
Any potential takeover of Heineken would need the approval of the founding family, which owns just over 50 percent of the company via Heineken Holding
Sources see the Heineken and Hoyer families, which control Heineken, as unlikely sellers. They have consistently held onto control of the Dutch brewer, including through a complicated share issue in 2010 when it bought the brewing interest of Mexico's FEMSA.
Bloomberg reported from its sources that SABMiller's offer would have made the Heineken family one of the largest shareholders in the combined group. The newswire also said that the approach was made in the last two weeks.
SABMiller has done many deals along its journey from a small South African player to the world's No 2, including the 2005 purchase of Colombia's Bavaria, the 2007 purchase of Grolsch, the 2008 combination of Miller Brewing Co with the U.S. business of Molson Coors
Like other brewers, SABMiller is struggling to grow in Europe and North America. New revenues from emerging middle classes in developing markets have been dented by weak currencies in many of those countries of late.
Heineken, the largest player in mature western Europe, has steadily expanded in faster-growing emerging markets, including Mexico and in Asia.
From an antitrust point of view, there would be considerable areas of overlap between the two, including in the Netherlands, parts of Africa and Latin America as well as Vietnam and India.
(Reporting by Martinne Geller, Anjuli Davies and Sarah Young in London; Philip Blenkinsop in Brussels and Thomas Escritt in Amsterdam; Editing by Keiron Henderson and Tom Heneghan)
