Anheuser-Busch, one of the largest beer brewing companies in the world, has been under pressure for a number of years and they are now faced with a take-over bid from InBev. (Given the poor taste of their main product, Budweiser, its amazing to me they didn’t bite the bullet years ago.)
A “Classic Tale” of international mergers & acquisitions: huge American brand falls on hard times and becomes victim to a global company not based in the US. You can hear the cries of the Nascar fans already: Keep our Bud American!
According to the International Herald Tribune (IHT) however, the bad guys are not M&A managers at InBev (the brewery conglomerate based in Belgium and Brazil) but the Busch family themselves, in particular the 44-year old CEO August Anheuser Busch 4th, known simply as “The Fouth”. With a reputation as a party-boy and a number of scandals in his past, The Fourth took the reins 19 months ago. Not that his father had done a better job leading the company: while the competition was thriving and going global, Anheuser-Busch has been struggling for 10 years.
In an article this week, the IHT argues that Anheuser-Busch should negotiate with InBev. They really don’t have a choice. Unless you think collecting 50,000 signatures at a website called saveab.com can help a company’s bottom-line and share price.
Which side are you on - should Bud stay all-American or join a global business?
Reference: IHT articles about Anheuser-Busch and InBev.
Image from richmondhill-ga.gov
Tags: Anheuser-Busch, Bud, Budweiser, InBev, The FourthShare This
