Another American Icon Into Foreign Hands
wesmorgan1
14 Comments
Anheuser-Busch will be purchased outright by Belgium's InBev. InBev is already the world's second largest brewer, behind only (I think) South Africa's SABMiller. If approved, the acquisition of AB will make InBev the world's largest brewer and the fourth-largest consumer product company.
I note that this is apparently a cash deal, with AB stockholders receiving no holdings in InBev. The fate of AB employees, especially in St. Louis, is unknown.
The deal requires approval from both European and US regulators, as well as AB's stockholders. I'm curious about the antitrust aspects of this deal; AB already holds almost half of the US beer market, and InBev's brands have a non-negligible share of the US market. Adding Stella Artois, Beck's, Labatt's, Bass, Lowenbrau, Spaten, and St Pauli Girl to the Anheuser-Busch brands would, at first glance, result in a market share approaching 60-65%. At what point do we start thinking hard about potential trust issues?
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Reader Comments (14)
This stinks, to use the technical term.
I do my part by buying beer made in America by Americans.
Well, except when I have to have a Boddington's. One must remain somewhat flexible.
Boddington's is an InBev brand - you helped finance this. (laugh)
But I like it.
Q) Does this make Bud a foreign beer? or domestic?
Let's just send all our companies overseas...
then we'll be a giant nation of nothingness.
(It amazes me that America is still in business.)
The stockholder vote may prove interesting. I don't hold any A-B stock, but a quick check indicates that the company has been performing well for the long-term investor; it's price has doubled over the last decade, even before the price spike brought about by InBev's offer.
It will probably come down to those who want a quick profit and those who want stable long-term growth. That growth is not a given, as folks over the WSJ's Deal Journal blog have noted:
I think most of us here would agree that Bud/BudLight (I don't think they can use the full "Budweiser" name abroad, because of a trademark ownership conflict) isn't going to snap up a huge market share in Europe. Asia might be a different story, but it's all theoretical at this point; I note that Bud Light (the biggest-selling brand, by volume, in the world) has only been sold in two countries outside North America (Columbia and Sweden).
I would boycott Bud over this, but my consumption wouldn't change. Can't go lower than zero.
Well, the only reason I ever bought Bud Light was BECAUSE my pops owned stock in A/B... I'm now happy to say that I'll never have to buy another Budweiser product ever again. From now on it's Miller Lite or MGD bottles for my non-good-beer-drinking guests... and Bent River stouts for myself.
Skinny;
Tell the truth, Old Style rules the roost at the skinny household in Chicagoland.
Wes,
As for InBev brands market share in the U.S., it's less than 2%. This will not be shot down for anti-trust issues. The next acquisition shoe that drops where SABMiller goes shopping for another U.S. beer comapny will receive scrutiny.
I won't drink Miller products either, not since they sponsored that big illegal alien march and the disgusting sado-masochistic "leather" street fair. What are the execs at Miller thinking? Idiots. .
"At what point do we start thinking hard about potential trust issues?"
When beer brewing equipment is outlawed, only outlaws will own beer brewing equipment.
My fallout shelter is equipped. What's in yours?
Guys, Miller is now a South African brand.
Does that help?
It's not a free market if American companies cannot be acquired by overseas companies or vice versa. I'm not too concerned about it.
True, but I still hate to see foreigners buying American firms.
At least I still ride a real American motorcycle.