Colombia: SABMiller will choose an investment bank to value its subsidiary Bavaria

London-based brewer SABMiller Plc will choose an investment bank in May to value its subsidiary Bavaria ahead of a compulsory offer to buy 3 percent of the Colombian company's stock from minority shareholders, a company official said on Thursday, March 30, according to Reuters report

"We hope to take the decision in May," said SABMiller's president for Latin America, Barry Smith, at a Bavaria shareholders' assembly in Bogota.

SABMiller bought 97 percent of Bavaria last year for about $9 billion in a stock-and-cash deal, including debt and interests in subsidiaries, which it said created the world's second-largest brewer by volume. It paid $19.48 a share, but minority shareholders opted to make use of a Colombian law allowing them to seek an audit of the price.

SABMiller will have to offer the price decided by the auditors at the investment bank, which could be higher or lower than $19.48.

Bavaria shares closed up 0.14 percent at 44,240 pesos on the Colombian Stock Exchange on Thursday.

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