As we reported earlier today, CEO August Busch IV and his board plan to turn down InBev’s $65/share bid for Anheuser-Busch. The Budweiser brewer, which has ignored the offer for the past two weeks, will formally reject the courtship of Carlos Brito while announcing its own strategic plan.
Anheuser-Busch will cut at least $500 million in costs, largely in marketing, and is considering the sale of its Busch Gardens parks. The cuts to be proposed will largely mirror those planned by InBev, and Busch will have to make a tough but critical sell since Anheuser has practically no takeover defenses.
Warren Buffett, whose 4.9% stake in Anheuser is larger than the Busch family’s, chatted with Becky Quick yesterday to deny reports that he had an opinion about the merger, let alone that he had met with August Busch in St. Louis. Buffett remains publicly an agnostic about the offer, calling the upcoming fight “an interesting spectator sport.”
August Busch earlier made a proposal to acquire Modelo Group as a means to make Anheuser too big for InBev to swallow. Anheuser already owns a majority of the Mexican brewer behind swill-grade Corona, but the controlling stake is in the hands of Antonino Fernandez, the ninety -year-old patriarch whose family runs Modelo. Modelo has reportedly refused any talk of surrendering control and has twisted the knife by talking with InBev behind Bud’s back; American news reports have shifted their description of Modelo from “Mexican partner” to “fiercely nationalistic.”
Matt Blunt, governor of Missouri, and both of the state’s senators have made a bipartisan plea for an antitrust review to block the sale. DealBreaker’s on-site research at Anheuser’s St. Louis brewery discovered that Budweiser gained its light-tasting rice-and-barley mix from World War I rationing. While this exonerates Anheuser from the charge of chintzing out on the mix, it further discredits the merits of political meddling in beer and lets us blame Woodrow Wilson for the sorry state of American lager.
-Negra Modelo aficionado Andrew
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1. Good pick up, corona = mexican piss water (albeit with quasi-romantic marketing).
2. For a vertically integrated company, Budweiser seems to be awfully inefficient in terms of squeezing slack out of the system. Check out the annual report, they own various canning, farming, etc operations.
3. while the sept ’08 puts look attractive, it seems inbev is intent on getting this deal done (no matter how much it hurts their balance sheet). Was looking @ the bank group, wonder what kinda structure they’re going with for the $40bn funding required to get the deal done, and thats just at $65. Anyone have any idea?
It may be $40 billion but that comes to, what, about 5 billion Euros? Its the weak dollar that’s attracting all of this foreign capital.
I’m foaming at the mouth to tap into the deal. My steps will turn into hops as I get further involved. I’m not going to get “bocks in” though. I won’t “twist off” and do something dumb. In fact, I might work on my “six pack” abs if an investor picture is made. I’ll give my advisor a Shiner if he tells me no to this deal. I’ve been Carling him all day.
A WB quote with no sexual innuendo?
How about: “an interesting spectator sport, like coke whore wrestling.”
-Nominate me
@ 1249 – “Carling” reference was truly “Stella”
I’m am a mayo-eating ass-clown
-Artie Help
AB should consider Artie Help’s words of wisdom and put a bid on Hellmanns, than they would be the predator and not the prey.Gary Tugs
That’s all very interesting (except for not).
We really need to be focusing on Mike’s Hard Lemonade here.
InBev has the Rand and the Euro which continue to kill the buck. Bud continues to get cheaper everyday on the currencies exchange position. Time is on InBev’s side. CEO August Busch IV, power crazy playboy, can set off a few fire crackers. When the smoke clears it will be INBevBud.
Actually 1:16 unless I’m mistaken InBev has the Real and the Euro, it’d be SAB Miller that has the Rand.
Did you mean ass-eating mayo clown?
Your post did not suck. You are clearly the Sam Adams hidden in a six pack of Genessee Cream Ale interns.
Anal_yst:
Yea, the Real. Brain hand problem.
haha it happens
Btw @ AB
Genessee Cream Ale, now we’re talkin about the good sh!t!