Save Anheuser-Busch?
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
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5 opinions for Save Anheuser-Busch?
Tony Cappo
Jul 12, 2008 at 4:58 pm
If Anheuser Bush sells to a foreign buyer I will never buy another Bud product. Enought is enought.
robbie
Jul 15, 2008 at 4:48 pm
due to the buy out of AB i have choosen to not drink any Budwiseer products that includes Pepsi and Aquifina…fxxx those forigen basterds and the dumbass who has ruined a his family leguace just to make the stock holders happy…enough is enough…its part of St. Louis you just dont fxxx with that…thats all
Jean Mercedes
Jul 17, 2008 at 6:40 am
@ Tony and Robbie - so what are you guys now going to drink? How about a nice local micro-brew.
@Robbie - what’s the connection between PepsiCo and AB? I couldn’t find any. Check out Wiki for a list of all current and former PepsiCo brands, plus partnerships. (Aquafina is a PepsiCo brand.)
If you really want to boycott AB you should also check Wiki which lists all of the AB brands (including Rolling Rock and other smaller brands) plus the brands which AB distributes, including a number of imported beers like Lowenbrau and Stella Artois.
Chris
Jul 18, 2008 at 8:12 am
As I mentioned on another post, if you’re going to boycott AB you should really boycott all companies which have been acquired by a foreign company, right? That’s everything from Superfresh to DHL to T-Mobile and a whole lot more.
paul ben-goula
Jul 22, 2008 at 5:43 pm
Dear BeerMates,
What is the problem? That´s globalization…. Invention of US&A! Put it simple, globalization in the other countries is okay, but not in US&A, right? hehehehe
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