Foreign takeover of American company Anheuser-Busch for $52 billion

[GoodBush]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080714/ap_on_bi_ge/anheuser_busch_inbev;_ylt=Aug0vKqwMyG8nQPeISmSYXhv24cA


Anheuser-Busch agrees to sale to a Belgian brewer By CHRISTOPHER LEONARD, AP Business Writer
 23 minutes ago
 


Anheuser-Busch, the maker of Budweiser and Bud Light, has agreed to a takeover by a giant Belgian brewer, a union that creates a global beer leader and brings to an end one of the most iconic names in American business.

The board of directors of Anheuser-Busch Cos. Inc. on Sunday accepted a sweetened $52 billion takeover offer from Belgian brewer InBev SA, according to a joint press release.

The deal, which is subject to shareholders' and regulators' approval, would create the world's largest brewer and create the fourth-largest consumer product company worldwide.

"This combination will create a stronger, more competitive global company with an unrivaled worldwide brand portfolio and distribution network, with great potential for growth all over the world," Carlos Brito, CEO of InBev, said in the statement.

For InBev, the maker of Stella Artois and Beck's, the deal gives an aggressive company an iconic beer brand — Budweiser — to sell into emerging markets where it has already established a firm footprint.

InBev is the world's second-largest beer-maker behind SABMiller. Anheuser-Busch is by far the largest brewer in the U.S. with more than 48 percent of the market share.

Brito will be chief executive officer of the combined company, which will be named Anheuser-Busch-InBev. Shareholders will receive $70 a share, a $5 increase over the offer Anheuser-Busch rejected in June.

It wasn't immediately clear how long approval might take. Several Missouri politicians have expressed concerns about the merger — especially how it would affect the approximate 6,000 people employed by Anheuser-Busch in St. Louis.

InBev said it plans to use St. Louis as its North American headquarters, and that it will keep open all 12 of Anheuser-Busch's North American breweries.

InBev announced its intent to try and purchase Anheuser-Busch on June 11. The Anheuser-Busch board initially voted against the merger, calling the initial $65 per share offer too low.

That prompted much squabbling between the companies over the past few weeks. InBev filed a motion seeking the removal of all 13 Anheuser-Busch board members; Anheuser-Busch filed suit calling the InBev effort an "illegal scheme" that threatened to defraud Anheuser-Busch shareholders. Among other things, the suit noted that InBev failed to disclose it operates a brewery in Cuba.

Few products are associated with America as much as Budweiser. Its Clydesdale horses are fixtures of Super Bowl ads, and even the label is red, white and blue, with an eagle swooping through the "A."

"This agreement provides additional and certain value for Anheuser-Busch shareholders, while enhancing global market access for Budweiser, one of America's true iconic brands," August Busch IV, Anheuser-Busch president and CEO, said in the statement.

The merger, if completed, also will bring to an end a name synonymous with St. Louis. From college buildings to theme parks to offices to the stadium where the Cardinals play baseball, the Busch name is virtually everywhere in the Gateway City.

Eberhard Anheuser acquired the Bavarian brewery in 1860 and renamed it E. Anheuser & Co. His son-in-law, Adolphus Busch, joined the company in 1864 and it was eventually renamed Anheuser-Busch.

The company survived Prohibition by selling products ranging from ice cream to root beer.

In addition to opposition from politicians and civic leaders, at least two Web sites sprung up opposing the merger. SaveBudweiser.com claims to have more than 60,000 signatures from merger opponents. SaveAB.com hosted a recent anti-merger rally that drew hundreds to downtown St. Louis.

InBev has not said if layoffs will occur as a result of the merger. The company said it expects cost synergies of at least $1.5 billion a year by 2011 over three years. The deal won't benefit earnings per share until 2010, it said.

Even without the merger, Anheuser-Busch said last month it planned to cut pension and health benefits for salaried employees as part of an effort to slash $1 billion in costs by the end of 2010. The plan called for offering early retirement to 1,300 salaried workers 55 and older.

The cost-cutting effort was part of a strategy to fend off the merger. Anheuser-Busch also owns a 50 percent share in Grupo Modelo, Mexico's leading brewer, and a 27 percent share in China brewer Tsingtao.

___

Associated Press writer Jim Salter in St. Louis contributed to this report.

___

On the Net:

Anheuser-Busch Cos. Inc.: http://www.anheuser-busch.com

InBev SA: http://www.inbev.com

Savebudweiser.com: http://savebudweiser.com

SaveAP.com: http://saveab.com

[GoodBush]

Ah.......the fleecing of America..........who's next?

[JEH]

another one cashes in the chips and dumps usa. i never did like bud anyway, gives me a headache. good ridance

[TruthHunter]

I'm surprised a European firm would buy it. They have a pretty low opinion of our brews over there, but then, they drink their beer warm, too.

[GoodBush]

another one cashes in the chips and dumps usa. i never did like bud anyway, gives me a headache. good ridance

Reminds me of Wal-Mart. Remember when Wal mart was American owned. Sam Walton is rolling in his grave, nevermind all the founding fathers.

[Monkeypox]

It's a Fire Sale - come buy your piece of America.

[Monkeypox]

I'm surprised a European firm would buy it. They have a pretty low opinion of our brews over there, but then, they drink their beer warm, too.

It SELLS here, that's all they care about.

I'm a Heineken man myself.

[PlzPeopleWakeUp]

I will never ever buy anything Anheuser-Busch again if it allows a buy out to a foriegn company.
Of course, using newspeak, they are only a 'partner'.

The folks in the Dakota's are about as American as they get. AB has some huge operations up there. Expect a fight from the people who lose their jobs to slave labor eventually.

The only way to compete with slave labor, is to use slave labor. As long as countries in the world have slave or almost slave labor, globalization is the worst idea ever. It will make a slave out of all of you so you can be 'competitive'.

[GoodBush]

I will never ever buy anything Anheuser-Busch again if it allows a buy out to a foriegn company.
Of course, using newspeak, they are only a 'partner'.

The folks in the Dakota's are about as American as they get. AB has some huge operations up there. Expect a fight from the people who lose their jobs to slave labor eventually.

The only way to compete with slave labor, is to use slave labor. As long as countries in the world have slave or almost slave labor, globalization is the worst idea ever. It will make a slave out of all of you so you can be 'competitive'.

If you know anyone up there that works at AB, can you inform them what just happened to another American company?

[Monkeypox]

If you know anyone up there that works at AB, can you inform them what just happened to another American company?

American company?  What's that?

[Kilika]

BUD owned by non-Americans? That's about as unAmerican as foriegn companies owning American roadwa...uh, never mind. Everything is going right down the globalist crapper!

[dogmadestroyer]

I suppose I'll be the first to dissent here... Who cares? They make shitty beer and they buy up and shut down REAL American breweries as opposed to the multinational they are. f**k them. That is the brewer in me speaking and I'm sure Greeneyelady will make a 'homebrew' comment when she sees this.   

[GoodBush]

I suppose I'll be the first to dissent here... Who cares? They make shitty beer and they buy up and shut down REAL American breweries as opposed to the multinational they are. f**k them. That is the brewer in me speaking and I'm sure Greeneyelady will make a 'homebrew' comment when she sees this.   

American jobs gone. Just like our auto companies. No loyalty to American ethics and values........based on the constitution. Foreign entities don't give a shit about the constitution. Or us. Then again, neither did AB. 

[dogmadestroyer]

American jobs gone. Just like our auto companies. No loyalty to American ethics and values........based on the constitution. Foreign entities don't give a shit about the constitution. Or us. Then again, neither did AB. 

I don't think you have to worry about too many American jobs going away. What incentive would they have to brew beer farther away from the grain they're buying to do so? They know that importing it somewhere is a bad idea so the Bud they sell in the British Isles is brewed in Ireland. Just like how most Guinness in North America is brewed in Toronto.. In fact, the most Guinness brewed in the world is brewed in Nigeria because Africans like Guinness for some reason.  I don't see much being outsourced here.. beer isn't the same as a car factory.

[Rock]

http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/07/14/busch.reax/index.html

CNN) -- Philip McClary was grilling out at his home in suburban St. Louis, Missouri, on Sunday night when he heard hometown brewer Anheuser-Busch would be bought by the Belgian company InBev.
The deal would create the world's largest brewer and put the U.S. beer maker in the hands of Belgian-based InBev.

The deal would create the world's largest brewer and put the U.S. beer maker in the hands of Belgian-based InBev.

"I was actually drinking a Bud Light when I heard, and I couldn't even finish it. That's the honest-to-God truth," he said Monday.

"I was proud to drink Budweiser, not any more," said P.J. Champion, a student at the University of Mississippi who said the brew is "a great piece of American history."

McClary put Champion's thoughts to music, posting his song "Kiss Our Glass" on YouTube and on a Web site that tried to stop the sale, SaveBudweiser.com. Video Watch McClary sing 'Kiss our Glass' »

"America is not for sale, and neither is her beer," McClary sings.

"All you hard-working Americans stand up and show some class," the song continues, "Have a drink with Mother Freedom, and tell InBev to kiss your glass."

Such outrage is to be expected, says Matt Simpson, who bills himself as The Beer Sommelier and teaches Beer Education 101 at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. But he said the protests will soon fade.

"Unless it affects [Americans] in the product or the pocketbook, they're likely to forget about it," Simpson says. And he doesn't think InBev will change its iconic product.

"You don't mess with a good thing," he says. "It really isn't about nationalism, it's about money."
Don't Miss

    * InBev to buy Anheuser-Busch
    * iReport.com: Who makes better beer?

Even McClary agrees.

"I think there will be somewhat of a backlash; I would anticipate initially that people will be furious and stop drinking it. Maybe after six months, though, they'll switch back."

Simpson says that if American beer drinkers turn away from Budweiser and other Anheuser-Busch brands, it will be because they are turning to microbrews.

"They are heading the pack in popularity and business success these days," he says of the small breweries. "Today, taste is king. You really don't get from the macro beer producers." See other American icons owned by foreign companies »

But he doesn't expect Budweiser to go away, either.

"There's nothing inherently wrong with the taste of Budweiser. It's a light American lager. There will always be some sort of market for that," he says.

For McClary, taste was never an issue. "I've drank tons of different beers, different brands; but Bud Light has always been the one to me that was the easiest to go down and had the smoothest taste."

But he says he's quaffed his last Bud Light, and the issue is larger than beer.

"We've kind of lost a part of our history here and all across the United States," he said.

InBev says it won't be changing Budweiser or Bud Light, which it says are the best-selling beers in the world.

"Budweiser will be brewed in the same breweries ... by the same people, according to the same recipe," said Carlos Brito, InBev's chief executive officer.

But iReporter Adam Williams, who lives across the street from Anheuser-Busch's St. Louis brewery, doesn't share that feeling of a continued tradition.

Things will change, Williams says, right down to the company's mascot Dalmatians that have been a constant commotion in the neighborhood.
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"I will miss the nuisance that ... the Budweiser Dalmatians have meant around our neighborhood," he writes. "They may still exist over there for some time to come, but their kingdom's significance has severely diminished.

"What is the mascot of InBev, anyway?"

[larsonstdoc]

   One by one,  our companies are going to foreign investors.

[GoodBush]

http://forum.prisonplanet.com/index.php?topic=49292.msg224640#msg224640

[GoodBush]

I don't think you have to worry about too many American jobs going away. What incentive would they have to brew beer farther away from the grain they're buying to do so? They know that importing it somewhere is a bad idea so the Bud they sell in the British Isles is brewed in Ireland. Just like how most Guinness in North America is brewed in Toronto.. In fact, the most Guinness brewed in the world is brewed in Nigeria because Africans like Guinness for some reason.  I don't see much being outsourced here.. beer isn't the same as a car factory.

So you don't see a problem at all with what is happening to American owned businesses?

[dogmadestroyer]

So you don't see a problem at all with what is happening to American owned businesses?

I have a problem with that happening to American owned businesses that have a good product. Ones that have failed to prove themselves lend themselves to this sort of thing. Honestly, look at GM and Ford now and tell me that those companies didn't bring it on themselves in addition to all the outsourcing. Unlike GM and Ford, Anheuser-Busch will not make any difference because Americans will still buy their beer and it will still be made here. Hell, maybe they'll even put out some quality product, you never know.

[GoodBush]

I have a problem with that happening to American owned businesses that have a good product. Ones that have failed to prove themselves lend themselves to this sort of thing. Honestly, look at GM and Ford now and tell me that those companies didn't bring it on themselves in addition to all the outsourcing. Unlike GM and Ford, Anheuser-Busch will not make any difference because Americans will still buy their beer and it will still be made here. Hell, maybe they'll even put out some quality product, you never know.

I guess we just differ in opinion. I find it devistating to lose companies to foreign corporate interests. It's not good for our nation to be owned by foreign business men. They become very influencial in local/state/federal governments. The foreign fascist raid on America. Look at the TTC/NAFTA. Most of those are foreign companies stealing American property and charging us for it.

[Monkeypox]

I guess we just differ in opinion. I find it devistating to lose companies to foreign corporate interests. It's not good for our nation to be owned by foreign business men. They become very influencial in local/state/federal governments. The foreign fascist raid on America. Look at the TTC/NAFTA. Most of those are foreign companies stealing American property and charging us for it.

The transfer of wealth out of the US is accelerating.  All part of the master plan, I'm sure.

[JEH]

"american companies" are all jumping ship because they know economic doomsday is approaching. USA is FOR SALE to anyone but "americans".
Now that does make me wonder; what is the plan for existing 'americans'?

[Monkeypox]

"american companies" are all jumping ship because they know economic doomsday is approaching. USA is FOR SALE to anyone but "americans".
Now that does make me wonder; what is the plan for existing 'americans'?

Slaves.

[Real Truth]

American company?  What's that?

It's this thing that used to exist before the government destroyed the word

[Monkeypox]

It's this thing that used to exist before the government destroyed the word

Yeah, I sorta remember a time when things were actually manufactured in The United States.  I guess that means I'm getting old.

[JEH]

Did it ever occur the owners were 'american' and now they cashed in and are probably packing their bags now and fleeing 'america'
'america' is going, going, gone. Maybe everybody should "get the hell out of Denver".

[Real Truth]

Yeah, I sorta remember a time when things were actually manufactured in The United States.  I guess that means I'm getting old.

ya why would they manufacture something in U.S. when they got their slaves in south america that can do it for cheaper!

[Monkeypox]

ya why would they manufacture something in U.S. when they got their slaves in south america that can do it for cheaper!

They'll keep shifting production to countries where it's cheaper and cheaper until they have people working for free.  Isn't there a name for that?  Oh yeah, SLAVERY.

[GoodBush]

Goodbye Americana. Hello Globalization. Our culture is turning into a freakshow at the circus.

Taken from Wikipedia
Americana:
Americana refers to artifacts of the culture of the United States, the history and folklore resultant from its westward expansion[1]. Examples of this culture include baseball, apple pie, Superman, the diner, wagon trains, jazz, the music of Stephen Foster, George Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue, the music of Aaron Copland (notably his Fanfare for the Common Man), and rockabilly; and American art, such as that of Frederic Remington, Grant Wood, and Norman Rockwell, all based on American folk art.

[Monkeypox]

Goodbye Americana. Hello Globalization. Our culture is turning into a freakshow at the circus.

Taken from Wikipedia
Americana:
Americana refers to artifacts of the culture of the United States, the history and folklore resultant from its westward expansion[1]. Examples of this culture include baseball, apple pie, Superman, the diner, wagon trains, jazz, the music of Stephen Foster, George Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue, the music of Aaron Copland (notably his Fanfare for the Common Man), and rockabilly; and American art, such as that of Frederic Remington, Grant Wood, and Norman Rockwell, all based on American folk art.

Artifacts of a dead culture that was briefly successful.

[esquared]

Stop drinking the beer and close them down .

[GoodBush]

Stop drinking the beer and close them down .

Boycott! Thats what I'm talkin' about. Take action and speak with your money.

All these tasty beverages are no longer being purchased by me either.

[Monkeypox]

Pretty soon there will be one mega-corporation that owns everything.

[GoodBush]

Read and decide for yourself.

http://www.greenpeace.org/international/news/budweiser-rice-contamination071008

[scary]

Just make your own beer, wine seriously.

[Cywar]

You would think that this "event" would wake up the sleepers among us.  Instead they just shrug it off as the way things are now.

[dogmadestroyer]

Read and decide for yourself.

http://www.greenpeace.org/international/news/budweiser-rice-contamination071008

I figured... the fact that they had rice in the beer at all was reason enough not to drink it. 

[plantop14]

Say hello to the one world economy and good bye to another American business! Seriously, we've had major corporations jumping ship and moving out of this country since the late 70's and early 80's! Remember way back when T.V. and other electronic manufacturers laid off thousands and closed factories here and moved their operations to foreign countries! I said it then and I'll say it now, the owners of these companies are nothing more than traitors!!! They put folks out of work here (their livelihood) and then turned around and sold the same products back to these same hard working folks who were put out of work in the first place by these greedy corporate elite!!!!! Who's next, GM, Ford............!

[lazarus]

Just make your own beer, wine seriously.

For sure. That's the way to go. Sell it locally if you are good. If they want to gut the US, then replace them with better products. That's our future. Most products of huge corporations are inferior anyway and probably give you cancer.

[tattoo8118]

There are also many microbrews that are 100% organic and pure, the one I prefer is a little brewery up in Newport Oregon called Rogue Ales.  It is brewed with all natural Ingredients and tastes great.