London - Britain's super-low business taxes look set to skew the motivations behind another multi-billion-pound international takeover as Anheuser-Busch InBev, which is proposing a £180bn bid for London-based SABMiller, considers moving the combined company's tax base to the UK.
AB InBev is based in Belgium, but SABMiller's biggest shareholder, the American Marlboro tobacco owner Altria, is concerned that if the combined company was based there, Altria would have to pay more tax on the dividends.
Under a US-UK agreement, dividends Altria receives from SAB are tax-free.
Altria is proving to be a kingmaker in any deal, due to its 27 percent stake in SAB.
It also has three representatives on the company's board.
Despite that strong representation in the boardroom, Altria has appointed its own advisers to give it an independent evaluation of the AB Inbev deal's implications.
THE INDEPENDENT