Posted on 07/13/2008 11:15:56 PM PDT by Schnucki
The US brewer Anheuser-Busch has agreed to be taken over by Belgium-based InBev, in a move that will create the world's largest beer maker.
The $50bn (£25bn) takeover bid by InBev, which makes Stella Artois beer, was accepted by Anheuser's board.
The combined company will now be called Anheuser-Busch InBev.
Anheuser makes Budweiser - the most popular beer in the US - and some US politicians had expressed anger at the prospect of a foreign takeover.
'Unrivalled brands'
In a concession to political concerns about the deal, Budweiser's headquarters will remain in St Louis, Missouri while none of Anheuser's US breweries will be closed.
InBev is offering to pay $70 a share for Anheuser in a deal which must be approved by shareholders of both businesses.
The combined business will have annual sales of $36.4bn, equivalent to 460 million hectoliters of beer a year.
It will bring a host of popular brands including Beck's, Hoegaarden and Staropramen - in addition to Budweiser and Stella - under one roof.
InBev, itself formed by a giant merger several years ago, described the deal as "historic".
"Together, Anheuser-Busch and InBev will be able to accomplish much more than each can on its own," said InBev boss Carlos Brito, who will become chief executive of the new firm.
"This combination will create a stronger, more competitive global company with an unrivalled worldwide brand portfolio and distribution network, with great potential for growth all over the world."
Anheuser boss August Busch said the transaction would "enhance global market access for Budweiser, one of America's truly iconic brands".
Job concerns
There are widespread fears that the deal will lead to substantial job losses in the US Midwest at a time while the threat of recession is hanging over the economy.
The two firms have said the deal will generate annual savings of $1.5bn but have suggested that job losses will be kept to a minimum because there is little current overlap between the two businesses.
Anheuser currently controls nearly half of the US market, while InBev is strong in Western European and Latin American markets. Anheuser also owns stakes in Mexican brewer Grupo Modelo and Chinese brewer Tsingtao.
The deal should give Budweiser a platform to boost its growth in Europe where, apart from a number of markets like the UK, it has been relatively weak.
The beer market has been rapidly consolidating in the face of cost pressures and declining sales in many mature markets.
Scottish & Newcastle, the UK's largest brewer, was recently bought out by Heineken and Carlsberg.
Should I switch to Sam Adams?
Why would they let themselves be bought out by a foreign company?
They’re probably going to change the identity of Anheuser-Busch.
Corporations are unsentimental by nature, so there is no reason for the consumer to get sentimental about a corporation. $70 a share is a fair deal for Anheuser Busch. I am not sure what the new owners can do to “ruin” the Budweiser.
Isn’t INBEV associated with Cuba?
That depends upon whether you want to drink real beer or the rice-filled stuff A-B calls beer.
I like Budweiser
Several years ago I rescued two Germans whose engine had quit on the Talkeetna river in Alaska. After I had towed them ashore they rewarded me with two bottles of beer which they had brought with them on the plane from Germany. They had been to Alaska before and knew our beers. They bestowed them upon me as though they provided water in the desert.
Okay, okay, I'm a beer snob. There are worse defects of character-so I drink beer to forget them.
The weak dollar and foreign trade deficits run amuk... what a way to run a country. (into the ground)
Budweiser in a can = worst beer on earth.
Stella!
They’d better NOT screw up Negra Modelo.
Anything from a can usually stinks, unless it’s certain soup.
I don’t care about the beer as long as they leave the Clydesdales alone.
btt
In general, I prefer the beers of Europe. However, I don’t drink French beer when I am in France and when I am in Belgium I don’t drink Stella Artois! I drink Leffe.
Recently, BevMo has carried Leffe here in the States.
While in Ukraine, when the bar at the hotel ran out of Baltica-3 I’d always have Stella Artois as a fallback. Not a bad beer at all.
LOL! Which they had...
AB bought out Sam Adams years ago.
No micro brew has the advertising of Sam Adams nor it wide availability.
My husband is furious at this. He drinks his “American” beer, Budweiser. Does Sam Adams have a good light beer?
MMMMM, Stella.....
Once August Sr. passed and August III had a heart attack several years ago it has always been rumored that young August IV wanted out of St. Louis and the business. I would guess their BOD has been looking for a buyer for sometime. St. Louis last brewer.....Falstaff, Stag and now Budweiser.
..nicely put.
Yuengling
...not true. When I lived in upstate NY they had the skunkiest beer I ever drank in my life, Matt's Beer. You drink one or two of those and the after taste and heaviness of the beer made projectile vomiting inevitable. I like Sam Adams ("Sammys") but if you drink more then 6 of those they turn into a laxative. Anyway, Bud from a can, rather have it in a bottle, but there are far worse beers then Bud in a can. It also reminds me of a joke: Question: Why does Bud come in a can? Answer: Because his wife died....
I am looking forward to picking on my redneck friends for drinking foreign beer.
Hows did America having a sizeable trade deficit lead to InBev buying AB? I understand the weak dollar aspect of the equation, but the trade deficit I don't.
I remember Matt’s Beer Balls from high school.
It came in these big plastic balls that you pumped the beer out of.
The plastic must of leeched into the “beer” because all you would tastes is skunky Vinyl plastic.
We drank it anyways of course.
Make me want to puke just thinking about it now though.
What about beer served in aluminum kegs (he asked in good humor)?
“Genee screamers”
LOL
Remindes me of Haffenreffer, The called it the ‘Green Death’ or something like that.
I don’t care what others say is the worst beer, Beer Ball Beer was and is THE WORST BEER EVER!
Sam Adams is brewed by the Boston Beer Company. As far as I can tell, they’re still independent — not owned by A-B.
The best thing about a Matt’s beer ball is that it soon became a Matt’s beer bong.
Why shouldN’T they maximize the value of the company for shareholders?
Let’s hope they change the identity of AB, Stella Artois is a tasty beverage, something AB can’t say about any of their beers.
I was about to post an agreement, but then I’m not so sure that was what I should do.
We are pumping trillions of dollars outside our nation. Some of that is offest by foreign dollars coming back via trade. A massive sum does not return.
Instead folks (corporations) outside the U.S. hold dollars and have to do something with them. Investing back in the United States is one way of doing that.
Is this an instance of that? It may be. Some of this organization’s products are sold in the U.S. Undoubtedly some of the funding that makes this purchase possible, is supplied by U.S. consumers.
Some folks look at foreign purchases of our corporations as a good thing. I think a case can be made for that. I also find it somewhat distrubing to watch some of our top corporations held by foreign concerns.
Does it matter if the name Budweiser disappears? Perhaps not. If the jobs are lost, and I do think that will happen over time, it may matter. I notice the loss in other sectors don’t seem very important to folks these days though.
Some years back, U.S. corporations set up businesses over the border in Mexico. For a few years, it was a real boon down there. And then the U.S. corporations discovered China. They acted in their best interests. Adios.
What happens when foreign corporations decide to act in their best interest? What happens when they close down our plants? While I can’t see that happening in the short term, I’m not at all convinved a time won’t come when it will be advantagous to do that.
What then? Is foreign owned healthy? I remain unconvinced.
“What then? Is foreign owned healthy? I remain unconvinced.”
Me, too. What happened to the concept of moderation? It’s just out of hand. There’s too much foreign owned too fast. I started being concerned about it 25 years ago when foreigners were buying up all the farmland in Central California. And the illegal aliens started coming. I do believe foreign owners are more inclined to hire aliens. My sister was their accountant. One day we’ll turn around and find most of our assets in foreign hands. And that can’t be good. What bothers me most is we won’t even know when that day is, if it hasn’t already happened.
Does it matter if the name Budweiser disappears?
Why would it disappear? By what reasoning would InBev find it in their interest to change the name of Budweiser to something else?
If the jobs are lost, and I do think that will happen over time, it may matter
Will some jobs be lost? Maybe. Is AB currently employing more people than neccessary to produce its various products? Could be. And if so, then some job cutting would be a good thing for the bottom line. Unless a consumer backlash against the new foreign owners cutting jobs results in a loss of sales greater than the savings.
And would InBev actually shut down AB operations in the US and move all production overseas? I don't see that as being a viable option at any time in the near or distant future.
Alright, if they drop ounces and go metric on me, I may have to boycott.
Thanks for your response.
“Matt’s Beer”
You’re a Philistine. Matt’s ruled.
The sad thing is AuntB, some well meaning people who think they know it all, will be more than happy to facilitate this.
There have always been folks who thought certain things that undercut their own nation, weren’t very important. In fact some of them thought it was great.
It simply amazes me to see folks who are faced with five dots in a straight line, who cannot connect them to save their own arses.
“It simply amazes me to see folks who are faced with five dots in a straight line, who cannot connect them to save their own arses.”
That’s it. That’s the most frightening thing, isn’t it? My own 40 year old child is one of them. But she’ll cut off her nose to spite her face trying to shove that square peg in a round hole. There is almost a concerted effort to demonize anyone who questions anything anymore. I was born asking questions and I have every intention of going out that way. :<)
What exactly are the dire or supposed negative consequences of InBev purchasing AB?
Would a domestic buyer of AB make totally different and opposite business decisions after aquiring AB?
And if the past 25 years are any indication of the future, there is a good chance that a domestic concern will purchase AB back from InBev at a greatly reduced price.
Happened to nearly all of the businesses and properties that Japan bought in the 1980s.
I can’t argue the merits of this transaction, don’t know enough about it. Don’t care enough to learn. There’s too many to keep track of. Doughty and I were having a basic philosophical discussion.
Yuengling Lager is made by people who threw out the Teamsters union. Sam Adams is made by people who thought the company would be promoted by couples having public sex in a church.
Yuengling is better anyway.
“Going out...” HEY!
Knock it off! ;-)
Good for you AuntB.
I have never liked Sam Adams beer. But did they develop that bit of marketing material, or was it the radio station, or more directly, the on air host at the time who came up with that one?
Negra Modelo is perfect beer
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