Hmmm...
The King of Beers is moving closer to wearing a foreign crown. After a week of contentious wrangling that included lawsuits and Securities and Exchange Commission filings, Anheuser-Busch, according to published reports and people who have been briefed, has engaged Belgian brewing giant InBev on a $70-per-share, nearly $50 billion deal to buy the company.
The St. Louis-based parent of Budweiser beer has been working for six weeks in a campaign to discourage InBev (BusinessWeek.com, 7/10/08), line up politicians to oppose the deal, and convince shareholders that a takeover by InBev, which markets brands like Stella Artois, Bass, and Beck's, is not in the best interest of the company or their investments. But a sweetened offer and mounting pressure on A-B management have brought the two companies to actual negotiations.
The Busch family, who own only 4% of the stock, are helpless to stop it.
Analysts expect the deal to be done this weekend. As I've
mentioned before, this seems uniformly like a bad thing. Strangely, as I read the news, my mind went to Nelson Muntz, perhaps meanly. "Ha Ha, you failed to protect your quintessentially American brand and now a bunch of Flemish-speaking Belgians have purchased your corporation!"
Analysts expect the deal to be done this weekend. As I've mentioned before, this seems uniformly like a bad thing. Strangely, as I read the news, my mind went to Nelson Muntz, perhaps meanly. "Ha Ha, you failed to protect your quintessentially American brand and now a bunch of Flemish-speaking Belgians have purchased your corporation!"
I agree with your assesment. It seems like a dumb idea. How can you sell your American ID when you're not American? On the other hand, the South Africans own Miller and it hasn't hurt them from claiming Miller Lite is a "classic American pilsener".
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