dnicklaus: Great question, Mark. I have to confess that I haven't done a lot of reporting about Modelo, and I'm relying heavily on an analysts' report by Carlos Laboy of Credit Suisse. He says that Modelo's board is controlled by a 90-year-old patriarch and that A-B's strategy has been a long-term, patient one. It has a 50 percent interest now, and has always assumed it will acquire more in the natural course of things. Laboy says that "if pushed," A-B might make an "exceptional" offer to gain 100 percent control. The upside from that: A-B will operational control of Modelo, which Laboy calls "glacially slow and inefficient." If a team from St. Louis could bring state-of-the art financial, operational and marketing techniques to the Mexican market, the long-run payoff could be big.

Debbie: How could a company that is a legacy in St. Louis let someone come in and buy them out?
Does't family members still have controlling stock in the company?
If not, how did they let that happen?
If they do..... don't they want the family business to continue in a tradition future generations can be proud to be a part of?

dnicklaus: Thanks, Debbie. Like you, I think a lot of St. Louisans think of A-B as "our" company. But it's not even the Busches' company. As I mentioned before, the family owns only about 4 percent. Like a lot of old-line families, the Busches sold shares to others over the years, partly to raise money for the business and partly to diversify their portfolios and support their lifestyles.
All reports indicate that August Busch IV and his father do feel strongly about continuing the family brewing tradition. We'll have to wait and see whether they're able to do that.

Rico: I am curious as to how much the Berkshire Hathaway (Warren Buffet) ownership of a flailing stock is involved here. Did they start this process? To be honest when I learned of the 20% stake AB sold him to help prop up the company I sensed a sale was imminent.

When this transaction is complete, what will become of the theme park division? I can't see InBev in that business. Is a breakup a likely conclusion to the acquisition?

dnicklaus: Buffett doesn't buy companies to flip them, Rico. Generally he buys in because he believes in the management and the strategy, and he intends to be a long-term holder. I think he will be courted by both sides, but you're exaggerating the size of his investment. Berkshire Hathaway first disclosed its Anheuser-Busch investment in 2005, and it built up a stake that was a little over 5 percent. Berkshire's latest SEC filing, as of March 31, puts its stake at 4.99 percent. And, by the way, Berkshire bought those shares on the open market; it didn't buy them directly from A-B.