Industry speculation is rife that InBev, Belgian based makers of Stella Artois is preparing a giant £23 billion ($46 billion) bid for St Louis based Anheuser Busch, brewers of Budweiser and other such tasteless fluidsIt seems likely though that if this is going to happen, it will get nasty, as it is thought that the Budweiser Chairman, August Busch IV from the founding family, will resist such a move and InBev will appeal directly to AB shareholders.
"Will it affect me I hear you ask?" Unlikely from the UK market point of view, but it will create the world's largest brewing company by far, with a dominant position in many world markets and that is never good news for those interested in quality beer.
You can read more about it here.
I've always assumed that Anheuser Busch were too big to be taken over by anyone. This is one of those battles where you'd want both sides to lose.
ReplyDeleteAugust Busch IV ~ pretentious name, non?
Yours,
Rednev I
Augie's dad was known as "sticks" because he was III.
ReplyDeleteMy first reaction to this was to laugh, ha ha! I mean, how can some Eurotrash brewery operation take over the giant of giants, Anheuser Busch. It is ludicrous! Grrrr.
But after reading the article, it makes a lot more sense. Even though AB is a powerhouse in the States, and spends a bazillion dollars pushing their "American lager", it is certainly true that the big breweries in the US have been flat for a long time and even the teeny craft brewers have been nibbling at their margin. For a long time, the big brewers have been simply cannibalizing one another and getting no real increase in consumption.
It won't make me cry. It's not as if InBev will sweep in and close down all those regional breweries of character (long gone, thanks in large part to AB). What goes around comes around.
I have no real love for InBev but a part of me enjoys it when US companies get taken over by non-US ones.
ReplyDeleteI would love this. Look what happened to Miller. They got bought out by South African Breweries. There beer is shit, but I despise them for their shit advertising.
ReplyDeleteBudweiser, the Great American Lager, HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!