(Updates after SABMiller shareholder vote)
* Deal seen closing on Oct 10
* AB InBev to retain name after takeover
* Deal adds Africa, Latin American markets to AB InBev
LONDON, Sept 28 (Reuters) - SABMiller shareholdersbacked the brewer's $100-billion-plus takeover by rivalAnheuser-Busch InBev by a large majority on Wednesday,paving the way for one of the biggest corporate mergers inhistory.
The 79 billion pound deal was comfortably passed by the SABshareholders who voted. It had required approval from a majorityin number of shareholders and by at least 75 percent in sharevalue. For the latter, it secured 95.5 percent support.
SABMiller's two largest shareholders, cigarette maker AltriaGroup and the Santo Domingo family of Colombia, whotogether control about 40 percent of the shares, had alreadypledged their support for the deal.
The approval of SAB shareholders was widely expected, butnot a given. Criticism of the takeover offer grew over thesummer, after a steep fall in sterling following Britain's voteto leave the European Union made AB InBev's cash offer lessappealing.
Activist shareholders pressured SAB to seek a higher offer,prompting AB InBev to sweeten its bid in July. SAB backed thehigher offer, though some prominent shareholders, includingAberdeen Asset Management, continued to oppose it.
The takeover is expected to be completed on Oct. 10, nearlya year after AB InBev first approached SABMiller about theacquisition, which required a succession of sweetened bids towin over SAB and asset disposals to satisfy regulators aroundthe world.
The shares of the new company will begin trading on Oct. 11in Brussels, with secondary listings in Johannesburg and MexicoCity and American Depositary Shares in New York.
Soon after, the company is expected to kick off a saleprocess for SAB's central and eastern European brands, estimatedto be worth up to 7 billion euros.
Earlier, AB InBev Chief Executive Carlos Brito, who willhead the combined company, outlined the rationale for the deal -including the creation of the first global brewer with newfast-growing African and Latin American markets - beforeannouncing that the name Anheuser-Busch InBev would remain.
After selling off SAB's joint venture stakes in China andthe United States and its businesses across Europe, the combinedcompany will have a 27 percent share of the global beer market,according to Euromonitor International, with large positions inmarkets of Africa and Latin America.
Still, competition in individual markets will remainrelatively unchanged, since the two companies have very littlegeographic overlap.
Anheuser-Busch InBev, the world's largest brewer, hadoffered SABMiller a $3 billion break-up fee, payable ifregulators or its own shareholders failed to approve thetakeover. (Reporting by Martinne Geller in London, Philip Blenkinsop inBrussels; Editing by Alexandra Hudson)
