Benzinga

España
Italia
대한민국
日本
Français
Benzinga Edge
Benzinga Research
Benzinga Pro

  • Get Benzinga Pro
  • Data & APIs
  • Events
  • Premarket
  • Advertise
Contribute
España
Italia
대한민국
日本
Français

Benzinga

  • Premium Services
  • Financial News
    Latest
    Earnings
    Guidance
    Dividends
    M&A
    Buybacks
    Interviews
    Management
    Offerings
    IPOs
    Insider Trades
    Biotech/FDA
    Politics
    Healthcare
    Small-Cap
  • Markets
    Pre-Market
    After Hours
    Movers
    ETFs
    Options
    Cryptocurrency
    Commodities
    Bonds
    Futures
    Mining
    Real Estate
    Volatility
  • Ratings
    Analyst Color
    Downgrades
    Upgrades
    Initiations
    Price Target
  • Investing Ideas
    Trade Ideas
    Long Ideas
    Short Ideas
    Technicals
    Analyst Ratings
    Analyst Color
    Latest Rumors
    Whisper Index
    Stock of the Day
    Best Stocks & ETFs
    Best Penny Stocks
    Best S&P 500 ETFs
    Best Swing Trade Stocks
    Best Blue Chip Stocks
    Best High-Volume Penny Stocks
    Best Small Cap ETFs
    Best Stocks to Day Trade
    Best REITs
  • Money
    Investing
    Cryptocurrency
    Mortgage
    Insurance
    Yield
    Personal Finance
    Forex
    Startup Investing
    Real Estate Investing
    Prop Trading
    Credit Cards
    Stock Brokers
Research
My Stocks
Tools
Free Benzinga Pro Trial
Calendars
Analyst Ratings Calendar
Conference Call Calendar
Dividend Calendar
Earnings Calendar
Economic Calendar
FDA Calendar
Guidance Calendar
IPO Calendar
M&A Calendar
Unusual Options Activity Calendar
SPAC Calendar
Stock Split Calendar
Trade Ideas
Stock Reports
Insider Trades
Trade Idea Feed
Analyst Ratings
Unusual Options Activity
Heatmaps
Free Newsletter
Government Trades
Perfect Stock Portfolio
Easy Income Portfolio
Short Interest
Most Shorted
Largest Increase
Largest Decrease
Calculators
Margin Calculator
Forex Profit Calculator
100x Options Profit Calculator
Screeners
Stock Screener
Top Momentum Stocks
Top Quality Stocks
Top Value Stocks
Top Growth Stocks
Compare Best Stocks
Best Momentum Stocks
Best Quality Stocks
Best Value Stocks
Best Growth Stocks
Connect With Us
facebookinstagramlinkedintwitteryoutubeblueskymastodon
About Benzinga
  • About Us
  • Careers
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
Market Resources
  • Advanced Stock Screener Tools
  • Options Trading Chain Analysis
  • Comprehensive Earnings Calendar
  • Dividend Investor Calendar and Alerts
  • Economic Calendar and Market Events
  • IPO Calendar and New Listings
  • Market Outlook and Analysis
  • Wall Street Analyst Ratings and Targets
Trading Tools & Education
  • Benzinga Pro Trading Platform
  • Options Trading Strategies and News
  • Stock Market Trading Ideas and Analysis
  • Technical Analysis Charts and Indicators
  • Fundamental Analysis and Valuation
  • Day Trading Guides and Strategies
  • Live Investor Events
  • Pre-market Stock Analysis and News
  • Cryptocurrency Market Analysis and News
Ring the Bell

A newsletter built for market enthusiasts by market enthusiasts. Top stories, top movers, and trade ideas delivered to your inbox every weekday before and after the market closes.

  • Terms & Conditions
  • Do Not Sell My Personal Data/Privacy Policy
  • Disclaimer
  • Service Status
  • Sitemap
© 2026 Benzinga | All Rights Reserved
April 22, 2016 2:50 PM 4 min read

AB InBev: Future M&A Potential?

by Manikandan Raman Benzinga Staff Writer
Follow
Anheuser Busch Inbev SA (ADR) (NYSE:
BUD
) may look at potential M&A opportunities to achieve its long-term target of$100 billion revenue by 2020, according to a note from Bernstein analyst Trevor Stirling. According to a Form 20-F, the company's Dream 2020 plan calls revenues of $100 billion by 2020. In 2015, the company generated revenue of $43.6 billion. If the company achieves the target, the top 65 managers will share 6 million options with a strike price of $121.89, which will vest five years after date of the offer letter. If it fails to hit the target in 2020, "there are two more bites at the cherry in 2021 and 2022." Stirling said the $100 billion target is unlikely to achieve with organic growth and the company has to pursue M&A. Stirling estimate that the proforma 2016 revenues for MegaBrew (Anheuser-Busch InBev and SABMiller) at $55.7 billion as the organic growth will be offset by forex headwinds. In this scenario, ABI will have to generate $44 billion revenue in six years to hit the target. "Even assuming an optimistic 7% blended organic top-line growth rate, and no further-FX headwinds, revenues would fall well short of the $100bn target, at c.$73bn in 2020, and c.$83bn in 2022," Stirling wrote in a note to clients. "It would require favorable FX tailwinds of approx 30% to bridge the gap by 2022 (conceivable but hard to rely on), which leaves the possibility of further M&A to span the remaining $17bn of revenue that would be required to reach the goal in 2022," the analyst highlighted. In the beer market, Stirling noted that ABI could look at buying remaining shares of Castel not held by SABMiller plc (ADR) (OTCMKTS:SBMRY), which has a Right of First Refusal (RFR) if Pierre Castel or his family ever decides to sell shares outside the family. The analyst estimates Castel had about $6 billion of revenue in 2015. "Assuming that this RFR transfers to ABI as an acquirer, and that the Castel family decide at some stage to sell, this would clearly potentially be a most attractive bolt-on deal. But there is no way of being sure that this transaction could take place before 2022," Stirling noted. The analyst also sees the beer businesses of Diageo (about $2.8 billion of revenue), and Anadolu Efes (about $1.4 billion of beer revenue) as attractive targets for ABI. The analyst estimates that the beer business of Diageo plc (ADR) (NYSE:
DEO
) could be worth up to £7.4 billion, but noted that the London-based brewer would be reluctant to sell its beer businesses. Meanwhile, Efes' 51 percent stake in CocaCola Içecek may act as a roadblock in the potential deal as the analyst said: "we believe that Coca Cola is likely to be very uncomfortable at the prospect of ABI being an anchor bottler in S Africa." "If we are right, the same logic could make a full acquisition of EFES infeasible; although one could envisage a spinoff of CCI," the analyst added. In addition, the analyst noted that Tsingtao, Snow and Beijing Yanjing are "almost certainly beyond ABI's reach for competition/regulatory reasons." However, Stirling said ABI would miss the $100 billion target even after acquiring these three businesses. The analyst said though acquiring all of Diageo ($15.6 billion revenue) would "fill the gap in one fell swoop, we suspect that the fickle characteristics of the premium spirits industry make it inherently less attractive than beer and 'near-beer'." Stirling also explored the possibility of ABI buying The Coca-Cola Co (NYSE:
KO
) and termed the potential merger as "MegaBev." The potential acquisition of Coke makes sense for ABI as it would help company achieve its long-term target in one shot, with Coke hitting 2015 sales of $44.26 billion. Further, the potential acquisition of Coke, which the analyst estimates would create a company with an enterprise value of more than $500 billion, offers the opportunity to take out cost and provides integration synergies with KO-owned bottlers in emerging markets. According to TipRanks, Stirling has a success rate of 50 percent with an average return per recommendation of -0.6 percent. The analyst is ranked 2,497 out of 3,907 analysts. ADRs of Anheuser Busch Inbev were down 0.52 percent to $127.89. Stirling has a Market-Perform rating and $125 price target on the stock.
Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs

© 2026 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.

To add Benzinga News as your preferred source on Google, click here.


Posted In:
Analyst ColorNewsPrice TargetM&AAnalyst Ratings
BUD Logo
BUDAnheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV
$79.890.52%
Overview
DEO Logo
DEODiageo PLC
$87.061.80%
KO Logo
KOCoca-Cola Co
$80.570.09%
BUD Logo
BUDAnheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV
$79.890.52%
Overview
DEO Logo
DEODiageo PLC
$87.061.80%
KO Logo
KOCoca-Cola Co
$80.570.09%
Comments
Loading...