Allen & Overy has played a pivotal role in the takeover bid by Anheuser-Busch InBev of SAB Miller plc, which formally launched today.

The bid is supported by a USD75 billion loan facility provided by ABInBev's core relationship banks. Across its London, Brussels, Luxembourg and New York offices, Allen & Overy advised the lenders, including Banco Santander, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi, Barclays, BNP Paribas and Deutsche Bank.

Allen & Overy partner Nicholas Clark, who led the team from London, commented: "ABInBev’s ability to raise USD75 billion in the loan markets in the space of a few weeks shows that banks are still willing to support top-class borrowers in record amounts,  despite the current era of increased regulatory and capital costs.  This is the largest commercial loan in the history of the global loan markets, far surpassing pre-crisis values.  Our involvement on the transaction, coming soon after our role in the financing of Royal Dutch Shell’s purchase of BG Group earlier in the year, reinforces A&O’s position as the global leader in the ‘super-jumbo’ loans market. We are delighted to have supported ABInBev in their third major acquisition financing in the last 7 years.”

Allen & Overy also advised the lenders on the loans supporting ABInBev's acquisition of Anheuser-Busch in 2008 (USD54bn) and Modelo in 2012 (USD14bn), and is consistently ranked number one in the Thomson Reuters Syndicated Loans EMEA Legal Advisors Review.

Allen & Overy's team was led by Nicholas Clark and Frederic Demeulenaere, working alongside over 30 lawyers including London corporate partner Richard Hough and Belgian partners Filip Tanghe and Dirk Meeus.