American Beer Company Anheuser Busch Under Hostile Sale

BBC Reports

By Senior Staff Editor, Corey May

Farwell to an American Owned Company

It's not farewell to the Budweiser at the corner bar, its farewell to the American ownership of Anheuser-Busch.

It seems that though the United States is the largest consumer for beer, Brazil has the winning recipe. The Brazilian-Belgian brewer InBev has just secured its biggest deal to-date: the $52 billion (?26 billion) takeover of America's iconic beer-maker Anheuser-Busch. Days ago, Anheuser-Busch filed an injunction baring InBev from soliciting any shareholders.

So what happened to change the deal? It would seem that the brew got sweeter, and not the beer, the money. After the deal went hostile and ended in federal court in New York, InBev with their Brazilian style management has prevailed in their quest to secure the world's largest brewing company.

InBev was formerly AmBev a Belgian company started out with a European Chief Executive, just over a year after the deal the Brazilian Carlos Brito became the boss. Back in 2001, Brazil's two largest beer companies, Brahma and Antarctica, decided to join forces.

The unsatisfied Brazilians found what they were looking for in the shape of Belgian-based brewer Interbrew, best known for its Stella Artois and Beck's beers.

The two firms merged in an $11 billion merger in 2004. Soon afterwards, the canny Brazilians proved their worth as corporate players, by out-maneuvering their European counterparts.

Whatever its exact national make-up, in the four years since InBev was formed, the firm has built a presence in 130 countries with 200 brands, such as Stella Artois, Beck's, Labatt Blue, Hoegaarden and Brahma.

Anheuser itself announced plans to cut about 1,000 full-time workers. Most analysts expect the new firm to go ahead with these job cuts. This deal now sets the stage for a new battle in the US beer market, this time between two foreign giants: the newly merged Anheuser-Busch InBev and its London-based rival SABMiller, where gaining market share is not going to be as significant as controlling costs.

So is there a successful conclusion? Maybe Americans can take solstice in the fact that Brazilian Carlos Brito, who will captain the new ship, is American educated at Stanford University in California.

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