NEW YORK (Reuters) –
Anheuser-Busch Cos Inc (BUD.N) shareholders on Wednesday approved a proposed $52 billion takeover by Belgian rival InBev NV ().
Of the votes that were cast by the Budweiser brewer's shareholders, 96 percent voted in favor of the deal, which the companies agreed to in July after a month-long standoff.
"The proposed merger between Anheuser-Busch and InBev under consideration today was a difficult decision for our board to make," August A. Busch IV, president and CEO, said in a statement. "In the end, the board determined that the InBev proposal is in the best interest of our shareholders."
InBev, maker of Stella Artois and Beck's, has said the deal remains on track to close by the end of the year, despite a global financial crisis and market volatility that caused InBev to postpone a $9.8 billion rights issue last month.
Last week Anheuser Chief Financial Officer W. Randolph Baker said there was a possibility that approval from U.S. antitrust regulators could come this month. InBev CFO Felipe Dutra said on the same day that the deal, the industry's largest ever, was only awaiting approval by shareholders and regulators.
But the $45 billion loan backing InBev's purchase remained open for commitments on Tuesday, banking sources told Reuters, as analysts and investors wondered if the credit crisis would hurt the deal.
Although no concrete date has been set, the loan is expected to fund by the end of November, the sources said.
(Reporting by Nicole Maestri and Martinne Geller; editing by John Wallace)