06.11.2008 4:34 pm
The offer’s real: Initial thoughts on A-B and InBev
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Anheuser-Busch just announced that it has received a takeover offer from InBev, turning weeks of speculation into reality. Here are a couple of quick thoughts:
- The bid is all-cash, which is the hardest kind of offer to turn down.
- It’s $65 a share, which is exactly what had been rumored. But in this kind of courtship, the initial price isn’t necessarily the best and final offer. If InBev is willing to go higher, say to $70, A-B’s board may have a hard time saying “no.”
- A-B’s language seems to be straight down the middle. It says its board will “evaluate the proposal carefully and in the context of all relevant factors, including Anheuser-Busch’s long-term strategic plan.” Mention of the strategic plan is a reminder that there may be an alternative way to create value. But the statement also mentions the board’s “fiduciary duties,” which mean that A-B can’t simply walk away from a deal that’s good for shareholders.
- This is the beginning, not the end. The Microsoft-Yahoo drama took three months to play out — Microsoft launched its bid Feb. 1 and formally abandoned it May 4 — and it may not be over yet. The plot could take many twists and turns from here, so stay tuned.
- While we’re intensely focused on the ramifications for St. Louis — and rightly so — Reuters notes that A-B’s China operations may be strategically important to InBev. Combined, the companies would control 13 percent of the Chinese beer market. A-B also owns 27 percent of Tsingtao, which has an additional 10 percent of the market.
(4 votes, average: 5 out of 5)
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David Nicklaus has covered St. Louis business for more than 25 years. His column appears three days a week on the Post-Dispatch business page. 
I am voting no and hope if it comes to it stockholders will see the big picture with employees jobs and benefits also the good things that A-B does for the community. Not to mention to keep a great institution American owned and not let this go the way of so many companys that have been bought by oversea companys just because the stockholder can make a extra buck today.
Those “official” statements are meaningless. They were written by the lawyers and summarize the corporate legal standard that controls the actions of directors and officers of a corporation when they consider a hostile offer.
Here’s an analysis on why BUD should reject the $65/share offer
http://usequity.blogspot.com
What I have long wondered is what does the SEC do anyway? I thought they were supposed to protect our economy from monopolies and oligopolies but instead they rubber stamp them. Look at how they allowed the big oil company mergers. We all see how well that works. And where is the accountability when they allow international giants like Daimler to pillage Chrysler and leave it for dead?
In future history books I’m afraid our children will read how “Greed was the downfall of the American empire” and if last century was the American century, this century will be the century of the financial markets and our federal government gave its blessing and sold us out.
Americans need to unite to stop the sale. It is bad for A-B, bad for America, bad for InBev (who will end up with too much debt). Go to SaveAB.com and sign up to stop this. Yours, A Concerned American
I think it’s a great idea for one reason–hundreds of taps across the metro area would be freed from this self-imposed requirements to sell A-B products and instead would be allowed to do something that hasn’t been considered there in a long time: selling beer that actually tastes good.
For many years the Busch family have been Pillars of the City and State . I just wonder if the entire family would be moving to Belguim, for if you can not clearly see how you are being made fools of for 46 billion cash only…Inbev needs your good name and product to be where you are today.
Darin is right. InBev buying A-B is a great deal for the City of St. Louis. InBev can start marketing the Bud and Bud Light style swill abroad and bring beers with real flavor and quality to the State of Missouri. Let’s force the rest of the world to feel the pain of drinking this stuff they market as beer.
This will help the image of the U.S. in the world community. We will be forgiven for our missteps abroad when everyone realizes we were stuck drinking Bud for so long. That pain would make any nation a little aggressive and angry.
Help us InBev, we have been drinking this yellow water too long. People need to know how hops taste.
People,
Relax a bit. You are all scared thinking InBev is going to shutter the doors and fire 6000 employees. Not much is going to change. The Busch family does not own a majority of the stock anyway. They don’t have the power to do much to stop this great deal.
I pray InBev gets OK’d to buy A-B and free us from the yellow water.
Before anyone sings the praises of this deal - remember TWA? American Airlines buying TWA was going to be a good thing for St. Louis too but that didn’t work out to well, did it? And how much marketing money do you think InBev will spend in St. Louis? How does Beck’s Stadium sound (it could happen)? And when was the last time you saw a Stella Artois car on the NASCAR scene? Money isn’t everything!
I said it once and I’ll say it again:
Sell AB to InBev and lose the heart and soul of the brand!!!