Buffett backs InBev bid, Belgian newspaper says
Belgian newspaper De Standard this morning is reporting that Warren Buffett is supporting InBev’s $47.5 billion takeover offer for Anheuser-Busch Cos.
Quoting sources, the paper says Buffett is willing to sell his A-B shares to the Belgian brewer. Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway owns a 5 percent stake in the St. Louis-based brewer.
A spokeswoman at Berkshire Hathaway would not provide comment to De Standard for its story.
Buffett’s support for the deal could smooth the way for InBev’s effort to buy the St. Louis-based brewer. InBev is offering $65 a share for A-B.
British newspaper The Observer reported Sunday that the billionaire plans to meet with A-B CEO August A. Busch IV this week to discuss the InBev offer.
Citing its anonymous sources, The Observer reported that Buffett believes the Busch family should consider discussions with InBev rather than reject the bid outright.
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