London - Anheuser-Busch InBev clinched its $103bn (R1.4trn) takeover of SABMiller after the British brewer’s investors approved the deal, sealing the union of the world’s two biggest beermakers about a year after the transaction was first proposed.

SABMiller shareholders voted 95.46% in favour of the sale, clearing the 75% needed for the takeover to proceed, the London-based company said in a statement on Wednesday.

AB InBev will dominate the combined entity, whose brands will include Stella Artois, Beck’s and Foster’s lager. The Budweiser maker will keep its name, ditching that of SABMiller, and only one SABMiller executive will be on the new company’s senior leadership team. The Leuven, Belgium-based brewer plans to cut about 3% of the enlarged company’s workforce.