Buffett backs InBev bid, Belgian newspaper says

Looks like Buffett no longer believes in America. Maybe Buffett should consider giving Berkshire to InBev also.

Warren Buffett wanting to sell his shares of AB is no surprise. But when the foreign companies start buying similar stocks that he holds and start slashing jobs and moving over seas, perhaps Warren can then create the Universal Unemployment Service. So many will be out of jobs that he can easily siphon off some of his mega billions.

Let’s see how Buffett’s legacy lives down the ‘fleecing of America’.

I can’t believe that he would back a deal that would basically kill the St Louis economy. Obviously he does not care about the regular folk with his billions. I guess it is all about making the buck.

This news basically confirms the end to the brewer as we know it unless the Busch’s have a trick or two up there sleeve no one knows about. Being of German heritage myself I would imagine the strong arm statics that Inbev is using in threatening letters and attempting to buy the rest of Modelo out from under AB has just got the Busch’s blood boiling. We Germans do not like to be told what to do and if done so we are likely to do something not real nice out of spite. I wonder if they could sell the trademark to Budweiser before the sale…

Per another article on this website, the last US slaughter house for horses will not re-open,therefore, Inbev will have to find another way to liquidate the Cydesdales at least this news will save them from a certain death. I wonder which animal shelter they will drop the dalmations off at?

Kidding a side, it is now time for the politicians in this city and state stop ruffeling the feathers of Inbev and buy a case of chapstick and do whatever to keep as many jobs as possible. Or a novel idea and work with Inbev to try and bring more jobs here, possible move their global hq’s here, money talks and you know what walks.
I have a feeling my days of drinking AB products is drawing to a close, if they do what they did to the Labatt’s employees and brewery (they closed the main brewery in Toronto)I’m done.

TRAITOR!!! How UN-American!!! When will it end?? The selling of American born business!!! Mr. Busch,I is spinning in his grave!!!

I am not surprised at Buffetts move, it’s not about money to him…it’s a game. This is what he does for fun, if it wasn’t he would be playing golf or lying on a beach somewhere. It is basically like playing high stakes poker, he is now playing his hand and he has caused two other players to go all in and he has the best hand. He does not care about how many people lose their jobs, he did the same thing to Gillette!!! just to name one other company.
I wonder do the Busch family and employees have enough stock to stop it?

It is big business and just the way of the world, we don’t have to like or support their bottom line with the purchase of their products.

The mismanagement of our country results in foreign companies coming in with their superior currencies and buying large pieces of America, such as AB.

W.B. has been alerting America of the dangers of deflating the U.S. dollar for years. But no one wants to listen. Everyone is too busy worrying about instant gratification that they are willing to sell our country at a huge long term expense in order to get a small rebate check now.

Our government has been running huge deficits and printing out money constantly, writing out $600 “rebate” checks, etc. This is not sustainable. Hostile countries like China own more of us everyday.

Get a grip people. The sky is not falling! It won’t be the end of the St. Louis economy. IF (and it’s a big if) the InBev management has the integrity to honor the traditions of AB here (as they have indicated they do), then the siginifgant changes may be: the InBev marquee on paychecks and the bottom line profits headed elsewhere.

AB is no angel either in their business practices. Ask the people in LaTrobe PA how they feel about their business having been gobbled up by an industry behemoth. Ask all the distributors how they feel about the rules and regulations AB places upon them in order to have that priviledge. So lets not posture that AB as being some scrawny, defenseless child on on the playground of corporate life.

Other reality - this is a public relations move on InBev’s point to have made this offer in public. They could just as easily make this a hostile takeover and buy as much stock in the open market as possible.

Think about it this way, if someone offered you 1.5 times the market value of anything you owned - car, house, stocks, gold, etc. - wouldn’t you take a hard look at the offer regardless of the sentiments attached to it?

BTW, the Busch family was Bavarian - naturalized American, and a wicked shrewd businessman. I think he might just be pleased about this.

Here’s a list of Buffett’s companies, if anyone would want to, uh, shop elsewhere….

Acme Brick Company

International Dairy Queen, Inc.

Applied Underwriters

Iscar Metalworking Companies

Ben Bridge Jeweler

Johns Manville

Benjamin Moore & Co.

Jordan’s Furniture

Berkshire Hathaway Group

Justin Brands

Berkshire Hathaway Homestates Companies

Larson-Juhl

BoatU.S.

Marmon Holdings, Inc.

Borsheims Fine Jewelry

McLane Company

Buffalo NEWS, Buffalo NY

Medical Protective

Business Wire

MidAmerican Energy Holdings Company

Central States Indemnity Company

MiTek Inc.

Clayton Homes

National Indemnity Company

CORT Business Services

Nebraska Furniture Mart

CTB Inc.

NetJets®

Fechheimer Brothers Company

The Pampered Chef®

FlightSafety

Precision Steel Warehouse, Inc.

Forest River

RC Willey Home Furnishings

Fruit of the Loom®

Scott Fetzer Companies

Garan Incorporated

See’s Candies

Gateway Underwriters Agency

Shaw Industries

GEICO Auto Insurance

Star Furniture

General Re

TTI, Inc.

Helzberg Diamonds

United States Liability Insurance Group

H.H. Brown Shoe Group

Wesco Financial Corporation

HomeServices of America, a subsidiary of
MidAmerican Energy Holdings Company

XTRA Corporation

Consider what is best for the share holders is what is best for America. We are a free market economy.

AB’s choices that led to its position of being a takeover target is what makes it less competitive. AB was pretending to be a publicaly held company while operating like a private one.

Most of America’s industries have experienced this pressure, and it ultimately keeps us stronger as an economy.

If AB escapes from this attempt with an emotional appeal its reprieve will be short lived. It will only be buying time to change its ways.

Buffetts position indicates a lack of confidence in AB’s decision making. We should pay attention.

You can’t really blame Warren Buffett. It’s not his fault that AB allowed itself to be an attractive acquisition target.

InBev’s already stated they’ll keep the St. Louis HQ as their North American headquarters. I can’t imagine some of it’s going to get trimmed as the global HQ assumes some of the duties that are duplicated there, but they’re not going away completely, and the brewery certainly isn’t going to shut down.

AB was stagnant for how long? At least this way you know there’s going to be additional growth.

Prngr44 don’t count on them not shuting the brewery done here. They promised the world to the Labatts employees and they shut their main brewery down in Toronto. They laid thousands of employees off in Toronto as well.
They will promise us the world too and give us hot air…mark my words.
Remember they have to pay the banks back 47 BILLION DOLLARS!!! they will not make that up selling Budweiser. Assuming they get a rate of 4% that is $133,333,333.00/month in interest alone.
If the Busch’s really want to save their legacy they need to convince them to move their global hq’s here.

You are all delusional and naive if you believe that InBev will keep operations status-quo here in St. Louis. Inbev has to cut $1.4 billion dollars out of AB in order to keep earnings high and keep the stock price above the $60/share mark. This means that employees will be let go and marketing budgets will be slashed. The decline of AB will come soon after.
Also, unless shareholders are willing to sell their stock immediately after the InBev takeover, the stock is going nowhere but down. The management at InBev are bean counters, not marketing and sales folks. AB will not survive a bean counter mentality with zero sum budgets. Sadly, the end of a great beer company is near…

Tis a sad day for StL, and a sad day for America.

IF, and it’s a big if, the In-Bev deal goes through, they are saying they will perserve the integrity of the AB traditions and history in St Louis. Macy’s said they would keep their Midwest division in St Louis when they acquired May Company also. I think we should should have learned a lesson from Macy’s, don’t believe what the acquiring corporations says. They will scale back AB in St Louis and will consolidate operations to their headquarters in Belgium as soon as they feel they have placated St Louis long enough.

This is what happens after years of shelling out millions of dollars to foreign countries in the form of importing much more than we export. What else can they do with dollars except for invest it? They would not want to convert it to thier currency, considering how cheap the dollar is. No institutional stockholder could care less about how this will affect the St. Louis economy or how many jobs will be cut. That is business to them. Buffet’s responsibility is to his shareholders, not us!!

Gaucho you are SO RIGHT. Many articles from “analyst and experts” have pointed out just what you said. Many have said that they will run the image and sales of AB products into the ground, they do not know how to market. Inbev got to where they are because they acquire people not because they know how to market and sell beer.
They have already indicated they will cut AB marketing by 45% and they do not believe sports marketing sells beer…does this tell you something!!! how do you think AB obtained a almost 50% share in the US market, they know how to market and sell to beer drinkers…the majority of whom are sports fans.
One professor at STL said “I always considered AB a marketing company”

Anheuser-Busch closed the Rolling Rock brewery in Latrobe, PA. How Un-American! Those cost-cutting A-B bastards. The chickens are coming home….to roost!

AB will be the North American HQ just like St. Louis is American Airlines Hub…yeah right. From here on out, the only time I will drink AB products is when I go to Grant’s Farm and get one for free…wait…that will go away too i guess.

If you’re worried about the impact on America, you might consider listening to this podcast: http://www.econtalk.org/archives/2007/04/boudreaux_on_th.html

Did anyone really expect Warren Buffet NOT to go along with this? For people WITH money, it is only about the money. And, like any other company that buys another company, once the transaction is complete, In-Bev can and, in my humble opinion, will do anything with it that they please, including moving, firing, etc. Remember, they admit that is how they make their money - cut everything to as bare bones as they can get it - true blood-letting. My concern is for the current A-B employees, especially the scores of non union bottlers and those not in management and there are scores of them. Many have worked faithfully for many years, some with less than a year to be fully vested in A-B retirement funds, and they now stand to loose everything - their retirement, their jobs, etc. Any working middle-class person knows that they are concerned right now, with every right to be so. Many have dedicated their lives to this company. This change WILL make a difference in the ecomony of St. Louis, when more homes go up for sale because people loose their jobs. In-Bev can say all they want right now and it behooves them to make this seem as apealing as possible to get people on their side but more than anyone, the employees need to be concerened for their families and their futures. Will all the concern, the web sites and the petitions change anything? Unfortunately I don’t think so. The hand writing is on the wall and it is just a matter of time. Not a good time to be an A-B employee and trying to just live. Can you still afford to send your kid off to college next year? Can you afford to trade in the car for a more gas saving model? Can you afford to make the committment to a home improvement loan to get the roof replaced? Just thought you were going to be able to retire in 5 years? Now you may loose your retirement account as well as your job in the next few months so put your life on hold for now and sock away every dime you can scrounge for you might need it just to get by sooner than you realize. Can you really blame Warren Buffet for wanting more money? Isn’t that the name of the game nowadays? The almighty dollar makes the world go ’round.

this is a tough one folks….if it is anyone else besides Buffett, i would say it is for the money….Many of you don’t know that, he is donating most of his fortune to the Gates Foundation which is charitable organization….He has three kids by the way and a number of grandchildren, yet he is leaving billions of dollars to give back…
…on the other side, if A-B is sold 3 years down the road, St. Louis will be destroyed economically…the brewery along with Grants’Farm will be closed…lots of jobs will be lost.
…A-B just can not reject the bid either as many retirement funds and 401k(s) have (BUD) stock, that will drop affecting the value of everyone’s holdings…this is a delicate issue to say the least…

Warren Buffett and others like him is what is wrong with America - people who are trying to make American disappear.

for those of you that are worried about grant’s farm, a-b doesn’t own it. a busch foundation does. in other words, no change unless the busch’s want to. as far as warren buffett, his business model is to buy good companies with good brands and good management. he then lets the current management run the company. his headquarters in omaha has fewer than 20 employees. a-b would be a natural for him to buy. 47 billion is peanuts to him. the reason he doesn’t is because of the lame management in place at a-b. he only invested in a-b because he was smart enough to see this coming. hell, he could buy inbev if he wanted to. you want to blame someone, blame the incompetent busch’s. those of you who think inbev should move their headquarters to stl., get a life. who in the hell would want to move to the crime capital of the u.s. busch the fourth could probably be mail boy at any other large corporation. when his own daddy thinks he is a dummy, what do you expect.

Okay … InBev has not destroyed other economies. The fat they cut is at the executive level & not employees. The execs of AB are screaming because they are going to be missing their cush jobs. AB’s distribution network will be InBev’s diamond. Grant’s Farm has NOTHING to do with the brewery. Buffett is pro American … yes, no faith in the AB’s mismanaged executive level.

Warren Buffett has an annual salary of $100,000 and has agreed that the vast majority of his wealth will be given to the bill and belinda gates foundation for charitable causes. he will leave his kids around a million each. he and charlie munger(his partner) regularly speak out about corporate misdeeds and exorbiant salaries of top execs. he is one of the best, if not best, corporate citizens. still lives in the same house he bought in the 50’s, drives his own car, no limo’s and does not rape the companies he buys.

Let’s see, it is a terrible thing for those terrible Belgiums’ to buy AB and take over and American business, but it would be a great thing for nice Americans and AB to take over Modelo and a great Mexican business. With that kind of twisted thinking, no wonder everyone hates us.

What would you expect from a greedy Republican financier like Buffet….oh wait…he’s a DEMOCRAT and a huge supporter of Obama.

This ought to also be a warning to everyone who owns anything subject to the capital gains tax. Buffet probably know that Obama is going to raise the rates through the roof. So, he will be selling anything he can before that happens. Obama often quotes Uncle Warren as saying a cap gains tax of 25% won’t matter. To him, I guess not. To the average American selling their stock or house, it matters a lot.

It is really good to see St.Louisians so passionate about the sale of AB to In-vest Bev.I wish we were that way with the war in Iraq.The war and the vast fortunes to run the war is costing us dearly.The war is directly causing the devaulation of the dollar,which is the main reason why In-vest Bev will soon take over AB.While Bush,Chenney and his cronnies soak in their oil fortunes they got from those bast**ds in Sudai Arabia,we will cried a tear in our beer!

Don’t blame Warren Buffett for this. Blame our government for purposely dumping the value of the dollar so that we can rescue the banking system that gave out loans to unqualified applicants. Now European companies can come in and sweep up American companies for about a 35-40% discount. The dollar is currently trading for .6444 Euro’s which translates that at even $65 a share, InBev is only paying $41.886 in Euros for A-B. I hope that the Busch’s have something up their sleeve to stave this off, but it doesn’t look good at all. Buffett only holds 5% of the company, so it will be up to shareholders to make a serious stink about this transaction. If you have shares either held by a brokerage firm or actually have the certificates in your possession, you need to vote against the InBev deal.

will Busch Stadium become InBev Stadium? Good luck to all the employees who will lose there jobs.

When the Germans bought Chrysler I was one of the millions who refused to buy one of their cars until they returned to American ownership. Fair warning to any AB buyers that I will switch my loyalty to other STL brands if AB is foriegn owned. IN-BEV: Beware the “Bud-Cott”.

Outsourcing is good for America. It lets us buy the cheapest stuff our unemployment checks can afford.

No one has done more to destroy the value of the $ than the failed energy policies of W. Bombs do not create petroleum reserves but does create death, destruction and other great costs, including subsidizing corporate acquisitions by foreign entities. Get back in your SUVs so more companies may be acquired cheaply and domestic jobs eliminated.

Having InBev buy AB won’t “kill” the St. Louis economy. It won’t be good but let’s put a little perspective to the conversation. Jobs will be lost, no doubt, regardless of what InBev says. Some management, sales, marketing jobs will be lost but the brewery will probably still operate. St. Louis and Missouri need to continue to find ways to attract businesses to the area. I believe having the right economic policies in place to attract businesses is much more important than keeping any one business in town.

I feel that this is probably the end for Anhueser Busch. With guys like this on the board what do expect. He obviously only cares about making money for himself, and not about America and American jobs anymore. He will be hapy as long as the deal puts money in his pockets and his buddies pockets, and to hell with America and it’s jobs. So sad, so very sad.

amen to boycotting AB products if this deal goes down. Oh wait, I don’t drink them anyway. No yellow water for me, please. The good news for everyone is that there are quite a few St. Louis area breweries that make excellent products. Try an O’Fallon, Schlafly, or Ray Hills for once. Discover what beer actually is supposed to taste like.

I believe we as American citizens should make one last stand against InBev by showing our American support for AB in AB’s backyard. We should get everybody from SaveAB.com and Savebudweiser.com and hold a rally in Soulard Bars. Here’s the catch, have all the Bars stock up and sell only Sam Adams Beer (which will be the last American Brewing Co if the deal goes through) at the all day rally, if you have enough people show up it will make national headline news. This will show InBev we as Americans will not drink a foreign owned beer at our American Football games, Baseball Games (America’s favorite pastime) or in our Bars.

Also, I respect Warren Buffet in his ability to make endless amounts money. However, I am disappointed in his patriotism. Don’t be surprise if you see him sell his 5% to InBev and turn around and invest it in SAM (Boston Brewing Company) because he knows their sales will improve if this deal goes through. Rest in piece AB.

It wasn’t all that many years ago that the extended Busch family owned a ton of BUD stock. Then THEY started squabbling with August III trying to stay in control and others wanting an immediate payout. THEY tried to tie the III’s hands and now they should be very happy. They get $65.00 a share and can now spend the money the their ancestors worked so hard to earn.

John, you are an idiot. How can you believe saving a company like AB is not as important as having good economic policy. AB is an establish corporating who employs a great deal of people in St. Louis. Last time i checked there are no companies lined up to move their headquarters here, all i have seen is companies leaving st. louis. But it is people like you who have no clue what establised large corporations mean to the local economy here is St. Louis. You guys can think and wish all you want about companies waiting to move here because of what our economic policies may or maynot be. I am glad that you have given up on the identity of St. Louis and the hard working people. Way to Go Genius!!

“This ought to also be a warning to everyone who owns anything subject to the capital gains tax. Buffet probably know that Obama is going to raise the rates through the roof. So, he will be selling anything he can before that happens. Obama often quotes Uncle Warren as saying a cap gains tax of 25% won’t matter. To him, I guess not. To the average American selling their stock or house, it matters a lot.”

Flyover, The average American selling their house does not pay capital gains tax on the sale.

Any American who supports the take-over of American traditions by foreigners should be treated as a traitor. A-B is a staple not only to St. Louis but to America as a whole. It is living proof that the American Dream is possible.

Buffett needs to go to hell. He only owns 5% of A-B. His share of A-B is less than A-B employees. The Busch family and A-B employees own a combined 10% of A-B - twice Buffett’s shares.

I hope Busch IV doesn’t cave into Buffett.

Geez people. Worried about losing A-B jobs? Consider this.

Job cuts come from cost cutting. Large acquisitions like this usually see 10-15% of the target company’s jobs cut. While a big loss, St. Louis would survive. Back to cost-cutting. There wouldn’t be so much fat to trim (making it a good takeover target) if there weren’t so many A-B employees making 50-60k to push brooms around and everyone getting a couple months of vacation.
Stop whining and start planning for the future.

Schlafly will still be owned and brewed locally. I guess it’s time for us all to finally support our TRUE hometown brewery. 100% St. Louis

Keep in mind that the shareholders are not loyal to St. Louis - $65 is going to be hard to turn down by the shareholders. It is time to consider this a done deal. Also keep in mind that $65 per share is not sustainable - the price of InBev will likely plummet after the sale - very typical in acquisitions like this.

Holey Mackerel Anheuser-Busch is one of the few companies left that is producing in the good old USA. They represent the best of what is American. Leave it alone, it is helping tons more people than Midas Buffett ever thought of. I never wished anything bad about anyone but I hope this guy chokes stuffing all the $100 in his big mouth.

This is a good offer for shareholders. BUD shares have been stagnant for years. So I can understand Buffett’s position.

Buffett however, can’t possibly appreciate how much a part AB is to St. Louis’ tradition and history. To lose AB would be like losing an arm.

I am very against InBev buying A-B; both for STL and the USA. However, the only way to stop this is to call your stock broker, buy as much BUD stock as you can and vote NO if this deal is brought to the shareholders. Shareholders have the only opinion that matters.

reasonable man why don’t you think about all of the other companies here in town not just AB that this would affect. you take away the advertising dollars, the sponsorship money, and all of the other aspects such as technology for the brewery (computers,copiers,printers,and supplies). This not only affects AB it affects alot of other companies that depend on Ab for their survival because of the pure size of AB. But of course your closed simple minded brain can’t comprehend that.

Regarding the sale of the house being subject to taxes (I think flyover said this)…most people do not pay taxes on the proceeds they make from their house. If it’s their first house, they can roll that into their 2nd house. Otherwise, the profit realized from the sale of the house has to exceed a certain threshold (i believe it’s $250K for singles and $500K for married couples). I can’t be certain of this because I had read this a long time ago and it doesn’t apply to me, but the irs website explains it very well.

This has nothing to do with America—it has everything to do with the Busch family’s terrible leadership of the company. Busch III had an opportunity to purchase both ImBev and AmBev several years ago. He turned it down wanting to wait instead for ImBev to go bankrupt so he could get it at a lower cost. The decision not to expand internationally put AB on a course to be acquired. The sad part is Busch III and IV will make a lot of money and a lot of workers will be hurt.

I love AB, the quality beer as well as the contributions, as much as the next St. Louisan, Missourian, etc. However, Warren Buffett lives in a free market society just like the rest of us. You cannot be mad at him for this situation. WE all had the opportunity to elect honest politicians to promote the strength of the American dollar, to invest in renewable energy which would make our investments in the Middle East useless. Our economy would not be drained by war and AB would be making bids at InBev instead.
Boycott the foreign companies and brew your own beer if this upsets you so. I have brewed my own beer for years (It’s fresher, cheaper, and best of all I won’t sell my company to InBev!)

Ok, This is some bullshit because August Busch IV hasn’t even met with Buffett and this has no credibility. This Beligium newspaper is obviously trying to boost their moral and trying to cut America down. It’s crucial to have Anheuser-Busch stay in the U.S., not only for our economy but also jobs and everything it stands for.

Reasonable man, I think you are missing that middle america, decent wages, and reasonable compensation are what is rapidly disappearing from the USA before our very eyes. It gives shareholders an extra buck today, but over time corporate America is convincing people like you that most of us should work for peanuts, have no vacation, and have no job security. Is a solid local company where employees are actually happy and secure a bad thing? Only if the shareholder can make an extra buck.

Billiecircus - put the beer down and step away from the keyboard before your parents catch you and take away your allowance for underage drinking.

John- You must have gone to community college, that is how people respond when they have nothing intelligent to say. If you could please value size my value meal. keep up the good work.

No wonder why he backs the deal…he stands to make 140 million because of it…..

Unnamed sources in Belgium? What kind of hype is that? I would guess that the anger being expressed here toward Warren Buffett, might better be expressed at the Mr. Busch the CEO of A-B.

If the Buschs really enjoyed running this business the way old “Auggie” did, they would have protected it. They would have purchased more stock for their own accounts. They would have a rotating board of directors rather than one that has all of its directors elected each year. They would have been thinking about how the falling dollar (certainly they were well aware of that as a company that is trying to go global) would make their business ripe for a hostile takeover. And, the part of the Busch family that loves coming to work everyday and running this great business would have started buying out the other parts of the Busch family who want to sell so very badly. This is more about a slow and deliberate Busch family feud rather than Buffett. For the Busch family to own less than 5% of this business, weaken the protective bylaws of the company, ignore the impact of a weaker dollar (public knowledge since 2000) and most importantly not be united as a family behind this wonderful business, was like lowering the drawbridge and rolling out the red carpet for a company like INBEV.

Mr. Buffett simply saw a great company with a great future at a good price. He had zero control over the management of the business or over the commitment of its CEO. Warren Buffett is not Carl Icahn. Nor does Berkshire Hatheway have the cash to out bid INBEV. Unlikely though it might be at this high price…wouldn’t it be interesting if Mr. Busch asked Mr. Buffett to be the 400 pound gorilla in this scenario? Instead of slamming Mr. Buffett, perhaps with his history of never selling a company or a stock, we might wonder what might happen if Berkshire Hatheway offered a combination of cash and Berkshire stock to buy enough shares to keep A-B in St. Louis? Dreadful longshot that it is, but he bailout ABC for Tom Murphy when it was in play years ago.

The CEO of A-B dropped the ball in not protecting this company. Buffett bought shares to keep forever; no exit strategy; just happy to own a great brand and watch it grow. Buffett didn’t launch a raid on A-B. He didn’t weaken the corporate barriers to takeovers. So now he is the bad guy?

He only owns 5% of the stock. How much power is that? If 90% of the shareholders (including Busch family members, and mutual fund managers) accept the INBEV offer and Buffett “keeps” his 5% out of loyalty to St. Louis, just how is that supposed to work for Mr. Buffett when the company changes hands?

The Busch family is from German origin and the Budweiser beer is Czech.
Belgium - Germany - Czech Republic, three neighboring countries, and arguably the three countries with the richest beer brewing tradition in the world. Budweiser is coming home

The world and the St. Louis economy didn’t come to a screeching halt when SBC left town, TWA was bought out or the Ford plant closed. Consolidations in business happen all the time.

They took our jeerrrrrbbbssss!!!!

I can’t believe that Buffett would back this! Will we have any American-owned companies left? AB is a great American story, and a great American company. I am committed to boycott any and all AB products if this sale goes through. I will force myself to drink Miller if need be.

Guess it’s all about money. Anything has a price, this is so sad. Anheuser-Busch is as American as the Arch, Forest Park etc., maybe we can sell them too. I don’t buy anything made in China or Citgo products and AB products will have go on my list of do not buy items.

AB is gone because its management left if vulnerable. InBev will control Budweiser and that blame goes to August Busch IV and his predecessor. The only relevant question is what will STL do about it? Will STL do its typical response and go reactionary? See: TWA, airport runway expansion, earnings tax, 40 Highway project without public transportation, ballpark village, 60 corrupt aldermen, weak city government, and where did you go to high school? Or will STL pick itself up and do some constructive negotiating with InBev to limit the hit as much as possible. Maybe, just maybe we could actually add jobs or convince InBev to move its headquarters here.

Or we could just complain about W. Buffett.

I’m sad to see this happen but if AB didn’t go public in 1983 then this would of never happened. I don’t feel sorry for the Busch family. Buffett is a business man. Don’t let his liberal views confuse you.

I’m switching to Jack Daniels

It at least is still MADE IN AMERICA

The source here is the Belgain newspaper, There is NO official word from Buffet….. This is just a rumor as of now and its working just as they wanted…

It was reported on KMOX that the president of Inbev is in Washington drumming up support for his bid for AB.

Does this strick anyone else as “The fox guarding the henhouse”?

A CEO of a foreign company in our nations capital garnering support to purchase an American company!!! with potentially the lose of thousands of jobs. I am now convinced we are going to hell in a hand basket. I understand capitalism, free trade and all that, heck if the political leaders play their cards right we could become a hub for Chinese imports and create numerous jobs, but this just seems wrong!

I know this has been said before, but I’m still amazed at the enthocentricity of Americans. How many times has A-B pushed around other breweries? How many times have American companies bought out other companies in other countries? So, now, A-B is staring down a bigger fish and they’re likely to lose this one. I hope there aren’t any so-called conservatives in St. Louis bitching about this. What’s that they say? If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the ‘market’?

Conversely, there is something to be said for the heritage and pride that comes with a locally-based industry…. But, please, let’s not let hypocrisy play into this.

Personally, I don’t want A-B to leave. It would be devastating. It would be like the Mississippi River being moved to Europe, economically, sentimentally and from a heritage standpoint.

It’s impossible to tell what will happen if AB is purcahed by Inbev. Inbev may very well maintain AB in St. Louis as North Ameican headquarters, uphold the traditions, philanthropy, etc. St. Louis may escape with little more than a bruised ego from the company not being locally owned.

That said, these deals can often be a wolf in sheeps clothing. Nothing will change at first, but five or seven years down the road, InBev will announce that to “stay competitive” and because of “the reality of the marketplace” they need to move production somewhere else and St. Louis ends up getting royally screwed, as it has many times before. That would be a disaster. And don’t say it can’t happen.

The problem is that since the dollar is so undervalued against a lot of major currencies right now, US corporations are ripe to sold off to the highest bidder. There’s just no defense against it. The officers of these corporations will make millions and really have no legit reason to prevent the sale, except for maybe a few who care about more than the bottom line.

But, as usual, there will be public outcries, political and business pandering to the outcries, and then us Americans will run back to McDonald’s and Best Buy to buy more stuff, bury our heads in the sand, and repeat that we’re the greatest country on earth and that’s never going to change.

Don’t get me wrong, we are a great country. But, the days of unilateral hegemonic military and economic power are over. And, if we don’t play court cards right, our fortunes will decline. Hell, they already have.

billiecircus, at least john went to college. lay off the weed. you make no sense

Jan, Berkshire Hathaway has plenty of cash in the bank to buy ab and inbev. 208 billion according to their last annual report. they also would never ever do a stock deal because they don’t want to dilute their stock. the only reason they would not be interested in ab is because of the crappy management. buffett pays cash for good businesses with good managament and then lets them alone

Also, people should keep in mind that just because InBev says it will keep things intact here, doesn’t necessarily mean anything. The Rams football franchise claimed it would definitely remain in St. Louis when it moved here, but there is that little clause in the contract, if I’m not mistaken? People were led to believe when the Missouri state lottery came in that all the profit outside of contest winnings would go toward education, despite the newspapers working to note otherwise. When casinos want to go into an area they lead people to believe that the area’s poor will reap an economic windfall, but do they? I’d rather not take InBev at its word. It’s probably a much more healthier approach, ultimately. If they speaketh the truth, then fine, what’s lost, except a bit of St. Louis’ ego?

Sorry, but where someone went to college, whether it be a community college, has nothing to do with ‘the person,’ who ultimately determines what they learn and what they do with their education. I’m sorry, but I’ve met people who have gone to Ivy League schools (read ‘Harvard,’ if you wish) who haven’t learned what they should have learned. Ultimately, it comes down to the person. A lot of people stop educating themselves after college anyway — even Ivy League types — unless it adds to their bottom line. A college education is but a peephole into the world of knowledge, anyway. You have to continue the work yourself.

I think this hostile takeover by InBev probably is going to take some time considering the very strong anger and resentment that is ever present in this nation. I really believe this one is the last straw! It’s time to make a stand!! I drink Bud products and will never ever ever drink it again if they move the HQ out of St. Louis. I live in another state, not Missouri. Far far away… This is not just a St. Louis thing. This is an American thing! I don’t think InBev understands this. They are betting that Americans will keep buying AB products. There is going to be such a backlash that InBev is not going to believe what hit them when their market share goes down to the teens in the USA. I read Warren Buffett’s book, and it said he was a long term investor. Now he’s going to sell out for a short term gain? I believe his legacy will be greatly tarnished if he sells out. I’m going to buy a 12 pack of Bud Light Lime tonight, which apparently is apparently so popular that bars and liquor stores are having a hard time keeping up with the demand. I might buy a hundred or more shares also. I encourage you to do the same. The next quarterly report is going to be big. I believe that sales will skyrocket in the next two years if Bud stays American. It’s going to be the return of Coke Classic. Meanwhile InBev needs to keep buying out more companies because they are losing so many customers everywhere they go. Another question. Is InBev cooking their books? Can we look into this before a sale is approved.

as a grant’s farm employee and supporter of anheuser-busch as it is, i feel that a great tragedy is unfolding before our very eyes. almost everyone knows or has heard of the charitable aspects of our brewery. our brewery and all a/b employees have always been generous and caring good neighbors. i have read all the info and heard all the rhetoric concerning a possible takeover by in-bev and have read about the in-bev mentality or lack thereof and see that when they, in-bev, gets a/b all will be lost–by that i mean –grant’s farm, busch gardens, charitable gift giving etc., the clydesdales==the list goes on and on. so many people–24 million and counting–have visited grant’s farm. gussie opened it to the public for our enjoyment and enlightenment–many happy faces on children and parents alike will be gone. yes, perhaps it was a management error, perhaps it will be corrected before the brewery and all else is gone—-but what part do our elected officials bear in the loss of another great american heritage. NAFTA, oilexports etc.–thanks for allowing me to blow off some steam. frank

Waldo- i will try my best to stay off the weed, as you say. Who says that? You must have gone to community college with your buddy John. Let me know what McDonald’s you are working at tonight so i can stop by and offer you my extra change.

All of these comments about
the death of St. Louis and
about Warren Buffet being
unpatriotic are ridiculous.

The world is now open to free
trade, and businesses will do
what is best for them as a
business decision.

Similarly, people, like all of
you, shop at places like Wal
Mart because you get the best
prices for the goods you want.

Decisions in a capitlist system
can’t be made for emotional or
patriotic reasons.

Frank, the brewery does not own Grants’ Farm, it is owned by the Busch Trust and the brewery leases it from the trust, therefore, Inbev could not close or sell it. That being said who knows what the Busch Trust would do with it, the way they spend money I am sure they will need the funds from the sale.

Here’s a thought for all the people who think A-B should not sell @ $65 per share. Go to your local broker and offer $66 per share. I am a stockholder and would be more willing to sell to you (an American) than to a foreign company.
America is a free enterprise systems. Your Senator is wrong in trying to dictate what a company and/or stockholders can do with their shares.

I’ll still be buying bud as long as it is priced right and the quality is the same. I’ve lived in St. Louis my whole life and will always think of St. Louis as AB’s home. I don’t know if AB will be bought and leave or not but I do know the only constant is change. Regardless of who owns it the product and its heritage will still be the same.

My take:

First things first, this will be bad for St. Louis. It doesn’t have to be a death sentence for the city, but it will be bad. Even if Brito believes what he is saying about this being so great for St. Louis (which he doesn’t - don’t kid yourself), it doesn’t matter. How will Inbev get $65 per share value out of this company formerly trading in the low $50s? Major, major cost cutting. Even if St. Louis is the north american HQ, 1000s of layoffs will occur. He won’t have a choice, unless he wants to lose his job.

Second, I don’t hold it against mutual funds, pension funds, Buffett, etc. if they say yes to this deal. They’re just doing their job. In fact, this is most certainly why many of them, Buffett included, bought AB stock in the first place.

That being said, as St. Louisans whose family, friends, neighbors, and city treasurer count on AB, it’s OUR job to advocate against it. And it’s McCaskill’s, Bonds, etc. as well. It’s a capitalist society, but also a republic. And I have no problem with st. louisans and their elected leaders letting those who advocate a business deal that is bad for us know(politely), that we can always take our business elsewhere.

at one time he argued it was unfair for a cleaning lady to pay higher taxes that multi-millionaires paying capital gains taxes. Now he’s supporting this! What a greedy hipocrite. Oracle of Omaha, you can KMA!!!!!!!!

The political leaders know there is not one thing they can do to stop this, McCaskill has to say she is oppossed to it or it will be used against her in the next election as with any other political leader in this state. One thing the political leaders can do and I believe they are doing by asking the FTC and other federal agencies to look at this deal is bury Inbev in paper work (and take it from me the gov’t can BURY you in paper work and research time). This simply is a stall tactic to possibly give AB more time to fend off the takeover, to give them time to purchase Modelo or present a plan to stockholders on how they will increase the stock price higher than $65 per share. Who knows if that is possible, I have been told by people in the know that Bud Light Lime is doing far better than they predicted, they can’t brew it fast enough.

billiecircus, you are right, proud graduate of flo valley and umsl. you can come by the mcdonalds i own when you are old enough or smart enough to drive.

John–those are spurious comments about how InBev operates. Do you honestly believe they are losing customers to the point they are cooking the books? Their brands have been, and will continue to be, quite successful in their local markets.

Warren Buffett is doing what he should do. He has a responsibility to his shareholders to make profitable investments. I have no doubt Buffett would speak up if he felt AB were stronger as an independent company than as a part of InBev. The fact that he hasn’t done so speaks loudly. I suspect that Buffett feels as I do–that the Busch family can probably negotiate a higher price from InBev.

InBev’s purchase is not a good thing for St. Louisans who aren’t AB shareholders. Jobs will be lost, and in all likelihood, some of the charitable works may be scaled back. It will be tough for individuals who work in the corporate HQ. I suspect it won’t be bad for the brewery employees, as I doubt InBev will do too much with it. I do wonder what InBev will do with A-B’s distributors–they want the great network, but many of the distributors are very inefficient.

These purchases are tough for the affected individuals, but we’re losing sight of one key outcome that often happens when companies merger and become more efficient in a competitive marketplace–the products become cheaper to produce, and this cost savings is passed on to consumers. This also forces A-B’s competition to become more efficient.

InBev is able to bid $65 per share because they are paying with Euros. This transaction includes a significant bet that the dollar will strengthen against the Euro over the next few years.

Paul, I never connected those two ideas. First of all ,I believe InBev is losing customers in many foreign individual markets where they have taken over. Secondly, I don’t know if InBev is cooking their books or not. But I think the U.S. government has an obligation to see if InBev’s books are on the up and up. I would think they have incurred a lot of debt with all these billion dollar aqcuisitions. Are these debts transparent? That is all I’m saying.

to kdunlap: it is common knowledge that grant’s farm is leased by the brewery;however, all salaries, benefits and perks are handled by the brewery not the trust or the family. since it generates only goodwill,not profit, it most assuredly would close–unless you pick up the tab. frank

InBev, nor any other company, would pay a premium for the brewing assets and then close them down. Same for the value of the A-B brands. Labor may be squeezed over time, but A-B is likely to do the same since beer consumption is on a slow but measureable decline. Certain local philanthropic work that A-B does may go away. Remember that A-B has purchased major portions of Modelo and Tsing-Tao over the last few years, demonstrating a similar strategy as InBev. Now the shoe is on the other foot. A-B is one of the savviest marketing enterprises in American history, and InBev would be foolish to change that after borrowing so heavily. Rest, easy St. Louis.

John–I haven’t seen any data that backs up your assertion that InBev is losing customers in foreign markets. As best I can tell from their annual report and their financial statements, they appear to be doing quite well around the world except for in one of their bases–Western Europe. They have real issues with Stella Artios

InBev is a company thatis required to file financial statements in Europe under IAS. They are held to rigorous disclosure standards and are audited by a major accounting firm. There is little reason to suspect they are committing major accounting fraud.

Their financial statements seem very open and honest about the fact that they had just over 5 billion Euros of interest bearing debt as of December 2007.

I don’t believe the government should waste the taxpayers’ dollars looking for nonexistent hidden debt.

A little light reading for you on InBev’s Promise keeping record:

http://www.iuf.org/cgi-bin/dbman/db.cgi?db=default&uid=default&ID=3225&view_records=1&ww=1&en=1

The Family, led by ABIV, will sell. He’s a greedy man. The that this is happening is inherent when moving from a privately held business to a publicly traded one. The desire behind a move to this position is to capitalize on the (hopefully ever upwardly) increasing value of the stock, thus increasing one’s wealth. The problem arises when you lose control of the majority of public stock…

Also, did you know that when he built his estate in St Charles county, instead of returning (or better yet - donating!) the unused lumber that was used for the finish carpentry - HE HAD IT BURNED! Thousands of $$$ up in smoke.

zuccarel- I agree with everything you said and it has nothing to do with what I said. I’m not sure A-B will stop advertising and forgive me if I don’t lose too much sleep for the one-trick-pony firms that only know how to promote beer. Maybe they can go to work for cigarette companies.

Billiecircus- Ditto. Except the ad hominem attack on me.

Bring on InBev…A shake up will be good for all. A good humbling for the St Louis employees. No more big fish in a small pond…:-)

Remember the story of the goose that laid the golden egg? We are warned not to worship false idols such as Mammon, yet we’ve fallen time and time again to such things, have looked for the “quick buck” at the expense of the long term, and where has it gotten us? A.B.’s shareholder may be offered 65 or 75 or 100 a share, but remember, that will not come in the form of cash; it will be in the form of stock. And if that stock should fall? Don’t forget all the things American Airlines promised when it bought TWA. How many of those came to fruition, for how long? Oh yes, things happened which changed the picture, but when do they not? So today some may support this for ideological reasons, others out of self-interest. Don’t be surprised, though, when a time comes to pay the price for being short-sighted. Perhaps we as Americans should have longer memories and realize all that glitters is not gold.

Maybe someone can start a second petition to Warren Buffett to explain to him about the American story. Money isn’t everything.

Hey, who is the Miller distributor here? I’ll bet that guy hasn’t been stopped smiling since this thing was announced. How much do you think his business will increase if this happens? Also, here’s a question, if you own the stock and you don’t support this, at what price would you change your mind? They say every man has his price.

How is that Anti-American? A-B corp is the one selling their shares to InBev. Warren Buffet is just making money from the deal. He benefits either way because A-B comprises of over 40% of the beer market and rising. If they sell he makes money, but if they don’t he still makes money every year because A-B is always growing. As for being ‘un-American” this has nothing to do with that. A-B has 27 brewing and bottling plants, 15 of which are out of the United States. 14 in China and 1 in the U.K. There are over 8,000 employees at the St. Louis plant and a rough guess that about the same are at all 17 means about roughly 135,000 employees. And A-B is being bought out at $47,500,000,000. Now if every employee got an equal share that would mean about 351,851.85 per employee. So it seems A-B is being “Un-American” by not caring about their employees, even though the majority of them are already over seas, by giving them a buy-out option or early retirement. Does August Busch really need all that money? Warren Buffet will be making about $2,275,000,000, 35 million shares at 65$ each, from being a smart business man and investing correctly. August Busch will be receiving easily 10x that amount from being greedy. Now who’s the “Bad Guy”?

this comes across as very hypocritical. When the US Dollar ruled the world, none of us complained with American companies did exactly the same thing to European and Asian Companies. We have stood by and watched our government spend billions, no trillions of dollars in financial aid to other countries and we still stand by with horse blinders (no pun intended to A-B)not doing anything about it. Well, we have an opportunity this year and will get many opportunties to do so in the next few years. Talk is cheap and as the old cliche says, “actions are louder than words”.

Mike–InBev’s offer is $65 cash–not in stock. That’s the reason they have to take on so much debt.

Ben–Berkshire will make about $500-600 million in profit on the stock. It paid $48/share. Also, Berkshire owns more stock than Busch IV…I’m not sure I see where the idea that Busch will make ten times what Berkshire will make comes from.

Ben–I don’t understand where the idea comes from that A-B could pass that money on to its employees. The corporation isn’t receiving any of the buyout money; it is being paid to the shareholders. In most deals, the acquirer comes in and offers selected employees retention packages to stay on with after the acquisition occurs. If there is a business reason to compensate employees as a result of the merger, InBev will do it.

VW–It isn’t Buffett’s money invested in A-B; it’s the money of the shareholders that he invested in Berkshire. Last time I checked, most investors in Berkshire would probably vote for profit as their “American Story.” I don’t think they care for any reeducation.

My own opinion is that the Busch Family doesn’t want to sell out, but they have no alternative they can offer to their shareholders that equals the value of the $65 bid in their eyes.

The Board of A-B really has no choice but to accept this deal. Turning down the deal would send a signal to the market is that the management and the board do not care about maximizing shareholder value. A fight would then occur between shareholders and management. The end result would be a new board of directors who then would accept the deal anyway. I think A-B’s days are numbered.

I’d imagine A-B is a $40-45 stock if they turn down the InBev offer.

THIS GETS ATTENTION BUT LOOK AT THE MONEY HALLIBUTRON IS MAKING OFF OF THIS WAR !! I TRUST BUFFET WAY MORE THAN BUSH AND HIS CROOKED ADMINISTRATION !

If Mr. Buffett wants a taste of his own medicine maybe all Americans in the great city of St.Louis should change their auto and home owners insurance from GEICO (which is wholly owned by Warren Buffett), to a insurance company that “really” believes in America like maybe AlState or Metlife or Safeco. Hey, while they are at it, maybe all of the “working class” folk of North America who incidently GEICO “targets” for “customers” should switch their insurance from the green lizard, I mean Geeko! (tee hee!)
I think I will change mine today!

According to Yahoo Finance, AB has $9 billion in debt. So, InBev is also acquiring that debt making the true cost of the transaction more like $55 bil.

Here’s some free advice. AB should arrannge to borrow about $23 billion and do a Dutch Auction. In a Dutch Offering, the company sets a range of say $10, let’s say between $55 and $65 dollars. Shareholders then tender shares for the price they think will get bought (the company would start buying the lowest priced shares first and work up the price spread until the $23 billion is gone). This would retire half the company’s shares if you believe the company is worth $46 billion. The company theoretically is still worth the same as the company has layered on debt that it didn’t have. Someone might choose to tender shares if they didn’t believe the deal would close. This new debt might make the company less attractive to InBev and those who didn’t tender would obviously be those who want more than 65.. This would allow those who want to sell at these levels a chance to cash out and those who want to stay the chance to stay with current management. It beats the Belgian Auction we are having now.

I hope to see the day Buffet is dead so I can celebrate teh death of Americas new number 1 traitor. Did these inbev scumbags ever consider how many of us will move on to american owned microbrew, but i suppose they will buy all of those also. This is where george bush has lead our country…..made it so weak anyone can come and buy what they please….

Anyone else find the recent AB commercials very ironic? The “commitment” commercial comes to mind. An attractive woman spouting off about how Budweiser hasn’t changed in so many years, and the tradition, and blah, blah, blah….I can’t watch the commercial without laughing now!

Just because my house is not for sale now doesnt meant I will not accept a deal when someone presents me with an offer that grossly overpays. This is exactly the case with AB.

Foreigners paying ridiculous premiums buying US assets is nothing new - remember Japanese in the ’80’s (and the movie “Rising Sun”) and really set those companies back. The Chinese and others have yet to show that they can do better.

Also, AB became a target because it is one of the most bloated companies out there and InBev sees a lot of cost savings (ie taking away the free 2 cases of beer employees get every month).

In the animal kingdom, you are either the hunter or the hunted, why should capitalism be any different? AB is paying the price for falling asleep at the wheel and being fat, dump and happy for way too long.

Alex, you really think giving 2 cases a month away free to employees is making this company bloated?? The few people I know that work there in various areas work 60 + hours a week and at a 40 hour salary UNDER 70K. No bloated salaries,stock options,bonuses. Just a good company, decent benefits and YES god forbid, 2 cases of beer a month!!! Those people we know feel good sharing their benefit of a 6 pack or so when the time arises.
SO what……this company is not made up of what you think (bloated overpaid, overcompensated etc). Most departments are made up of VERY hard working individuals that feel they are a part of something good. They work hard and AB gives to all employees a fair shake in the end.
What will Imbev give those same folks when they tell them their job is outsourced, sent to Belgium or just plain eliminated? My first thought is hopefully not just a sturdy box to place their items in as they are walking out the door.

Keep in mind that American corporations have been purchasing foreign companies for over 150 years. This is nothing more than good old fashioned capitalism. Don’t be upset if we are beaten at our own game now and then. We are still up many times over against the rest of the world.

InBev is going to take on roughly 57 billion dollars in debt to buy Anheuser Busch. 47.5 billion dollars to buy Busch and 9 billion of Busch’s debt. InBev market cap is around $50 billion. InBev has roughly 10 billion dollars in current debt according to Paul. This would be almost 70 billion dollars of debt compiled by InBev. What Bank in their right mind would make such a loan with grain, corn and oil prices going through the roof? Have we not learned anything from the mortgage crisis? Is Buffett the man behind the curtain enabling this to happen? This is insane. This is some risky gambling if you are investing with InBev? InBev stock is down almost 20% from a year ago.

Do you people know Warren Buffet at all? This is his new thing… investing in foreign companies. He just held private meetings in Europe with European companies… basically inviting them to become part of his empire. The man is a $$ genius.

I can see at least 6 companies on this list of Buffet companies I will no longer be doing business with and telling my friends and family as well.

There is more to America than money Mr Buffet Kiss My Ass

Lets see first the greedy corporations took our jobs and business overseas,and now the dollar is worthless. So now all the foreign companies can just buy us up with all the dollars they were supposed to spend on American goods.

I see we are now back to the greedy corporations and CEO’s…

KISS MY ASS WARREN BUFFET

from most of the comments I’ve read on message boards and my own bersonal feelings about this “Sell-out”, The Belgians will be buying a pile of sand because every American who loves their “Bud” is going to quit cold Turkey !
I’m not a Coors fan, but I’ll drink it because it’s American made !!

We should have a little pride, and buy back Mr. Buffetts stocks and send him to Belgium !

Not only is Warren Buffet a traitor what about the Carpenter’s Union and it’s lawsuit filed against AB I thought Union’s where for the working man and the preservation of jobs in the USA!! I never thought that I would thank a Democrat for anything, but THANK YOU SEN.Claire McCaskill for telling the InBev Pirate that this country IS NOT FOR SALE! When will we all stand together as Americans and beat back the forgein invasion taking place here?? Don’t get me wrong immagrants we all were at one time, but they came to start a new life not take over a country!!! INBEV GET OUT OF MY COUNTRY AND TAKE BUFFET AND HIS KIND WITH YOU!!!!

If Claire would stop supporting baby killing, higher taxes, banning off-shore drilling and about ten other things I might be willing to vote for her.

Buffet only has 5%. He is no sell out. That is not a significant stake in the company. There is another 95% out there. Do the math, then when placing blame: BLAME THE WEAK DOLLAR AND YOURSELF FOR BUYING CHEAP STUFF FROM CHINA!!!!!

Steve,
Keep in mind, it only takes 50.1% for InBev to win. So, he is ten percent of the total vote needed. I think people are upset because so many others will follow his lead.

I guess all you people calling people traitors must really hate capitalism and the American way of life?

This country has always been for sale, that’s they way we work. We buy foreign companies, they buy our companies. Buffett is a smart businessman and a humanitarian who gives his riches away, a good guy in my book.

Those of you that think InBev will not slash and burn are soo mistaken. Once this deals goes through, which it will, just give it 18-24 months and then the true blood letting begins. Hope all the sales and marketing folks at AB have their resume’s polished up.

Hey Cup Hungry your user name says it all for that is what you will be when the likes of Buffet are done raping the nation.

This a free country save, invest and sell high that is the American way! Mr Buffet is not here to save us? Don’t blame him!

J.

Pardon me, but don’t you americans have other problems than a normal corporate takeover? You know, the kind that happens every day. You would think you were winning your wars the way you are focusing on this. We will take your country without firing a shot…and with your cooperation. And while you are infighting. LMAO