inbev, sun trade alter sun interbrew deal terms UPDATE 1-InBev,...

inbev, sun trade alter sun interbrew deal terms UPDATE 1-InBev, SUN Trade alter SUN Interbrew deal terms
January 11, 2005 4:27am ET (Reuters)

(Adds details, comment, background, share price)

BRUSSELS, Jan 11 (Reuters) - Belgium's InBev has changed the terms under which it is buying India's SUN Trade out of their Russian-Ukrainian joint venture, SUN Interbrew , by paying in cash and stock rather than just stock.

The change, announced by InBev late on Monday, comes a week after the brewer of Stella Artois agreed to buy out minority shareholder Alfa in a cash deal giving it near complete control of the brewer in one of the fastest growing markets in the world.

The change will result in InBev issuing fewer shares and SUN Trade holding 2 percent of InBev rather than about 3 percent under the original the deal.

InBev spokeswoman Marianne Amssoms said InBev changed the terms of the deal following a request by SUN Trade.

"There's no connection to the Alfa deal," she said, referring to the minority shareholder.

"The new terms are globally equivalent to the earlier arrangement," said KBC Securities analyst Philippe Rochez in a research note.

InBev shares were off 0.96 percent at 28.87 euros in light Brussels trade.

Under the new terms of the deal with SUN Trade, InBev is to pay 12,500,001 shares and a cash payment based on the average price of InBev's stock in the 25 trading days ending two business days prior to closing of the deal, which is expected sometime in the first quarter.

The original deal, first announced in August, had InBev paying 20,000,111 shares valued at 530 million euros.

Last week, InBev agreed to buy out minority shareholder Alfa-Eco of Russia for 259.7 million euros for 21.8 percent of SUN Interbrew's voting shares and 1.9 percent of its non-voting shares.

SUN Interbrew, which makes Klinskoe and other brands, has called for an extraordinary meeting to have shareholders vote on the two deals.

On Friday, InBev will publish its volume figures for 2004. End of Story