you’d have to be crazy to buy stock in these guys right now. No way are they going to be paying dividends until their massive debt is paid off. They’re selling money making portions of their business left and right, reducing earnings. I can’t see a positive aspect to investing in AB-I.

b..thank goodness you are not a broker. the stock has soared since the buy-out from around $18 to $38.05 today. they may not pay a dividend but you can make money when a stock increases in price. one should always take emotions out of an investment transaction.

Well, b, if you had invested in ABI a few months ago you would have doubled your money by now. Doesn’t mean that its going to continue, but this management team has a pretty good track record in returning dollars to those who invest in its company. So far, the only things that have been sold are the South Korean brewery, which went to KKR and which ABI can buy back in 5 years and 4 packaging plants for which, no doubt, there is a long term supply deal in place w/Ball for any beer cans or ends necessary. Any investment is risky these days, but don’t underestimate this company.

The stock market is full of demons and wizard putting out magic potions to ripped people off.The stock market greed and frenzy is a big part of why were in the mess were in now.They may say AB is worth $38.00 a share,but I bet if you try to sell now you wouldn’t get 38 cents a share .The stock market setup-ripoff is the worse thing that ever happend in the USA.The few big fat cats ripped off the many “low tier” investors.

After reading some of the comments let me help with understanding why the sale of the MCC plants is a good deal for both sides.

As a industry there has been over capacity for some years now. As a result of this many companies have shut down production lines and indeed entire plants. This is especially true on the lid side of the business. Ball and other companies have done so. The only company to not do this is MCC. Now that Ball has purchased the 4 MCC plants you can bet there will be further closures of lesser efficient / profitable lines. That will only strenghten MCC’s position in my opinion.

It is true that can / lid suppliers have contracts but at some point that business will be up for grabs. When that time comes you can bet that MCC will get the lions share of the AB/InBev business. Potential MCC plant expansions will keep prices low and nobody will raise prices. So In/Bev gets a short term gain and no harm in the long run. Ball gets plants that make them better and more competitive and less likely to close plants down the road. Sorry Rexam but I see closures in your future. InBev feels you’ve been gouging them on prices for a while now so beware when it’s contract time. Now that MCC is in the fold you’ll need to make major concessions or lose business.

AB/InBev stock price says it all. In 18 months it will double again. Maybe sooner so who cares about dividends when the share price is going nuckin futs. Buy now…enjoy later.

Sorry about the above post. I meant to post under the article regarding the sale of MCC plants. :-/

This is being traded on the pinks (abhiy.pk). This increases transaction costs (at least with my online brokerage). With the relatively low volume, there is a large spread between the bid and ask. Does not make for efficient trading. Also, currency fluctuations can impact the share cost since the underlying stock is based on the euro.

mjd, and beerguy, thank goodness neither of you are a broker. I didn’t say anything about investing in them a year ago. I said RIGHT NOW. Apparently the industry investment analysts agree with me.

http://www.stltoday.com/blogzone/lager-heads/anheuser-busch/2009/07/analyst-right-now-i-wouldnt-touch-a-b-inbev-with-a-10-foot-pole/#respond

For anyone that thinks they will be able to pay this debt off, I’ve got some seaside property in Arizona I would like to sell you! No chance, you can cut and cut and cut, eventually you run into bone. It is the same as a family that buys a huge home, cuts cable, cuts going out to eat, cuts lawn service, etc… eventually they forclose. Good luck, Carlos.

Stay away from Inbev stock, or their ADR. The only branch that is making money for them now is AB in the US, about 72% of the entire earnings. Just look at what the breweries they are selling off. That is an indication of a fire sale with the marginal brands they burned by slashing, then touted false success a few years ago.

Talk from the US plants is that there will be another round of layoffs in the 4th quarter and they are planning on changing the the Bud recipe-no more beechwood aging and quailty is taking a big backseat to savings. Look for the downward spiral in about a year, just like Pabst and Schlitz did when they failed to reinvest and cheapened the beer. If you have any Inbev stock get rid of it by years end- they will be going broke by then.