Slay skeptical of InBev chief’s claims
Mayor Francis Slay — who has a brother and sister who work at Anheuser-Busch — spoke to InBev chief Carlos Brito today about his company’s hostile takeover attempt of the St. Louis brewing icon.
The mayor is the latest public official to hear from Brito, who earlier this week made the rounds on Capitol Hill, meeting with, among others, U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill and U.S. Rep. Todd Akin.
Slay said he was skeptical about Brito’s claims that, should the acquisition go through, the Belgium-based beer company would keep the combined firm’s North American headquarters on Pestalozzi Street and not close any U.S. brewing operations.
“The things he was saying were the things that, obviously, you want to hear,” Slay said in an interview this afternoon. “But what I told him was: How can I believe you? How do we know this is really going to happen?”
He cited the example of Federated Department Stores, the owner of Macy’s, which purchased the previously St. Louis-based May Co. and its Famous-Barr chain.
“We were told that Federated was going to put Macy’s Midwest headquarters here in St. Louis,” Slay recalled. “They did do that. They put the headquarters here. Now, two years later, it’s gone.”
Brito told Slay that InBev would be sensitive to local issues, should the takeover bid go through.
“And, of course, I said I cannot support that, will not support it, have not supported it,” Slay said.
Listen to the whole interview below, done outside a glass store in Lafayette Square.
I am a former employee of one of St. Louis’ lost Fortune 500 Companies. I had to move to the East Coast to maintain my standard of living. Now the A-B Eagle has come home to roost. Sooo, did Slay’s sis and bro get their jobs at A-B on merit? Maybe, but I doubt it. That’s really the heart of A-B’s demise. They hire by cronyism, nepotism and favoritism. Everyone there, from the CEO to the lowliest floor-sweeper is vastly overpaid. WHEN ImBev takes over they will have to address this; does the fork-lift driver at A-B deserve to make twice as much as his equal at WalMart? It just isn’t sustainable in the global economy, which for better or worse, is here to stay. The talent will be retained, or relocate. Those of lesser skill/means/connectedness will be stuck, with their wages and aspirations leveled to their global value. Those low-skill / high-wage gigs are hard to come by, and probably will never be replaced. Detroit is in similar straights.
What does this mean for the Lou? We’ll have to wait and see, but from here it looks pretty grim. I mean really, what company would relocate to the city? Slay (and the rest) are still operating on a 20th Century model. It doesn’t work anymore…
St. Louis, my beloved hometown is becoming much more like Memphis, Columbus, and yes, Kansas City than it is like Chicago, Pittsburgh or Denver. There just isn’t much there, and this will be a body blow.