Is the A-B board stalling, holding out or tilting at windmills?
Today the Anheuser-Busch board of directors rejected a bid by InBev to buy the St. Louis brewer for $65 a share. The board said the offer undervalued A-B. According to our story, board chairman Patrick Stokes said:
The proposed price does not reflect the strength of Anheuser-Busch’s global, iconic brands Bud Light and Budweiser, the top two selling beer brands in the world, with Budweiser selling in more than 80 countries today.
One might look at the board’s stance this way: We might be willing to sell the company — but not at the price you offered.
So is the board holding out for a better price? Or is it sincerely resisting a takeover attempt by the Belgium brewer? Is that a fruitful effort by A-B’s board? Or, realistically, is there anything they can really do to stop a takeover?
Kurt is the director of social media for the Post-Dispatch, where he has worked since August 2002. He's been a journalist since 1982, covering municipal government, courts, education and two hurricanes as a reporter before becoming an editor. 
Analysts had already surmised that In-Bev’s initial offer would go nowhere, that stockholders would hold out until the offer reached $70 a share. I think all we’re seeing here is a business negotiation…game playing on a corporate level. I would love to see A-B remain independent and stay in St Louis and business go on as usual. Realistically? Not gonna happen. If not In-Bev now, then someone else with deep pockets on down the road.
Mike Rand: you get it, it is about life styles, American as apple pie, car races on Saturday nights, sports of all kinds.
Inbev knows that brand will sell around the world because of the American icon we are. They don’t have that, we do, they want to buy that, the question is do we want to give it up.
American beer vs. Belgian beer, American will out sell.
Lisa, grow up a little. First of all no one loans a company billions of dollars without doing due diligence. To suggest such is irrational and unrealistic. Second of all, I would never sink all my money into one company because there is no such thing as a sure bet and if you don’t diversify your holdings you are setting yourself up for trouble. Again, irrational and unrealistic.
Stop flying off the handle. America is not going to be ruined if this deal happens. Yes, AB is a source of civic pride. Yes, they employee a lot of people in this town. We all know several I’m sure. But this isn’t risking our food supply, or water supply, or medicinces…it’s just beer. Inbev cannot abandon St Louis because there is too much infrastructure here.
Where was all this outrage when Macy’s stabbed St Louis in the back earlier this year, or when SW Bell moved to Dallas? Those moves will probably cost us more jobs in St Louis then the Inbev deal…
I belive Anheuser-Busch will eveually be sold. I also belive that witin 3 years they will move the corporate headquarters out of St.Louis and move us closer to a business ghost town.
all of you who really think that a-b is mounting a defense here are smoking. this is just a negotiating ploy to extract a higher price. dummy the IV will sell in a flash if the offer goes to $70.00. Hell, then he can replace that corvette he wrecked a few years back and get a bigger boat for the party cove. he doesn’t give a rats ass about the “peons”.
Ah Tim…can you BE any more self-righteous on a public blog!
GO AB!!! I am proud of them telling that little egotictical, GREEDY, greasy haired Brito to take his offer and stick it. His picture is next to weasel in the dictionary.
However, I feel it is just a move to get $70 a share.
The only hope I see is if AB can sell off non core assets quickly, thus removing cash that Inbev was going to use to pay back part of their loan.
People, these folks are selling dangerous drugs that have crippled american society in so many ways. Quit acting like this is legit and needed…these alcohol brewing companies. AB products have cost society more than they gave back.
Mike, until someones shoots down my argument or actually proves one of their comments is true, what else can I do?
I guess I will have to learn to like the taste of skunkie Miller products like my Chicago White Sox neighbor. I agree that business is business but the fleecing of America is difficult to stomach.