The Anheuser-BuschInBev team flew out of Johannesburg on Friday night after a week-long charm offensive involving wall-to-wall meetings with politicians, regulators and various "interested parties". They left behind the JSE's largest listing with a market capitalisation of R3-trillion and plans for strategic joint ventures with the Public Investment Corporation.They also left behind a strongly positive impression.Competition experts believe the strength of that impression will go a long way to minimise potential local challenges to the proposed $108-billion (about R1.8-trillion) acquisition of SABMiller, challenges that could drag out the competition authorities' consideration of the deal.story_article_left1PIC CEO Dan Matjila said that after his meeting this week with ABInBev CEO Carlos Brito he was "quite encouraged and excited" by the listing and prospects for strategic partnerships with ABInBev."We've made commitments. It's still early days, but we'd really like to work in partnerships with them, in deals that are in line with what we strive to achieve."Matjila made specific reference to strategic partnerships that would stimulate the agricultural sector.The establishment of such partnerships echoes the creation of a R240-million Supplier Development Fund by Massmart after its 2010 acquisition by US retail giant Walmart. The fund focuses on developing small, black-owned or black-empowered suppliers to Massmart.Like the Walmart-Massmart transaction, ABInBev's acquisition of SABMiller raises no competition concerns as ABInBev has no local operations - but the competition authorities are also obliged to investigate public interest issues that might be affected by a transaction.Critical among these are employment and economic conditions in an industry or region.In its filing with the Competition Commission, ABInBev said no South African jobs were expected to be lost as a result of the acquisition.Proposed strategic partnerships address public interest issues and are likely to be aimed at securing and enhancing the viability of local suppliers and protecting affected industries and regions.The ABInBev team have worked hard to assure local politicians and investors they are committed to growing their post-merger business in South Africa. And so far, ahead of a deal being finalised, they appear to have been successful in managing all the factors that are manageable.story_article_right2Both locally and internationally, the ABInBev team have been lauded for swiftly and pre-emptively dealing with possible regulatory concerns in jurisdictions across the globe.On Friday, Brito said his management team were keen to finalise the transaction as fast as possible and that everything was moving in line with their plans."The time between announcing the deal [November last year] and closing it can be an anxious time for people involved; we want to minimise that."The CEO of the largest beer group in the world played down concerns about current grim global investment and economic conditions and the impact these may have on the largest deal yet seen on the JSE. He referred to the European origins of the ABInBev group, dating from 1366, and in the US dating from 1852 and in Brazil from 1888. "We're not private equity investors here for just five years; we've been in this business forever."As to the current turbulence, Brito - who frequently alludes to his Brazilian roots - said that if you only focused on what was happening today you would panic."We focus on the long term, we're here for the long term ... that's where the benefits are."This is not the first time Brito's team have found themselves in the eye of an investment storm. The team's last big deal - the $52-billion acquisition of Anheuser-Busch - was signed in 2008 as the collapse of Lehman Brothers was about to unleash a devastating financial crisis."Our modelling and our assumptions are conservative enough to ensure we can withstand knocks."story_article_left3Brito also said the team's record of delivering on the commitments they made helped secure investor backing. "We take our reputation very seriously. When we commit, we deliver - investors know that. The things we can control, we deliver on."Brito was speaking just hours after ABInBev had completed a $46-billion bond issue, the second-largest corporate debt offering yet in the US, according to Thomson Reuters.The strong support from the US capital markets (investors had put in orders for as much as $117-billion) confirms Brito's view that investors see his group as an attractive option, particularly in a difficult market.Brendan Hanley, Bank of America Merrill Lynch's co-head of investment-grade capital markets in the Americas, said the ABInBev bond offering was attractive to investors because of the "strength of its credit profile, global brands and strong track record with bondholders".Ahead of Friday's 9am listing, Donna Oosthuyse, director of JSE Capital Markets, said the listing, which had been fast-tracked and completed in just 21 days, reflected well on South African financial markets and sent a positive message to potential issuers."ABInBev's decision to apply for a fast-track listing ... confirms its commitment to invest on the continent," said Oosthuyse.At the JSE's close on Friday, ABInBev stock stood at R1944 after shares worth R161.2-billion were traded.crottya@sundaytimes.co.za..