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Anheuser-Busch…has entered talks that could see Belgian rival InBev announce a takeover in the next few days, according to reports in the United States.
St Louis-based Anheuser is said to have abandoned its opposition to the deal after InBev raised its offer from $65 a share to $70, valuing the business at more than $50 billion.
The takeover proposal has sparked uproar among customers and politicians at home who want the classic American brand to stay in US hands. Many people in St Louis fear job losses and the end of the brewer’s longstanding support for local charitable and civic projects.
Some large shareholders in Anheuser though, including the billionaire investor Warren Buffett, who owns 5%, are understood to have put pressure on the brewer’s management to do a deal.
Some American brand names are still worth something – to someone.
And, according to the Wall Street Journal, it’s a done deal.
Well… when top English soccer teams get bought by American investors… you know the World is toast.
The South Africans have Miller, the Canadians have Coors (though the South Africans may snap them up too), and now the Belgians have Anheuser-Busch. What’s left, in the USA, for Carlsberg or Heineken to poach?
Short term, hooray for investors, you finally get your return on a stagnant stock. Long term, America loses as tax dollars go abroad and the city of St. Louis will lose an icon.
Carlsberg can buy Papst Blue Ribbon.
Honestly does anyone truly care where they get their drugs from?
Drug addicts will continue to buy no matter who sells.
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I really think that the age of the mega breweries are over, and that their lecacy will be football and lawn mowing beer. More and more Americans, when they’re out and wanting a beer, are now reaching for the thousands of microbrews now available.
All Anheuser-Busch beers suck so I don’t care.
The inexorable march of International Capitalism means the even big fish in National Markets are not immune to take-over by even bigger fish in International Markets ! Un-checked this will lead to having to pay whatever price Beer, Inc. wants to charge – pretty much the situation we are facing now with the Oil Cartel !!!
We still have Sam Adams and that beer is better then the slop coming out of A B.
It’s done.
Anheuser-Busch sold to InBev for $49.9B
Who cares about Bud? We have Open Source Beer!
Their beer is crap, so no loss there. But I’ve always enjoyed their humorous TV ads. I wonder if that will change?
i never was a big bud fan (I more liked regular coors, mgd, labatts, and molson canadian). But losing an American institution is always a bad thing in the long run, no matter what the short term gain.
that being said, getting that pic of what looks like an Australian V8 Supercar (vauxhall is an aussie car brand last i thought) is actually kinda cool. if you’re a racing fan, you whould watch some of those races, because they do as much beating and banging as the Nascar guys do. and their top race, the Bathhurst 1000, isn’t a bad race to view. it is to touring cars what daytona is for nascar, the indy 500 is for open wheels, and Le Mans is for endurance racing.
#12 Vauxhall is a Gm brand in the UK. They are re-branded Opels. That looks like an Astra so it’s not v8 but still pretty cool. And it’s American goddamn it.
Who needs morals and convictions when you have as many billions as Buffet. His philanthropy is just a payoff so history and god will think he did something good. He’s not an American! Renounce all the Busch’s citizenships!
#10 – Improbus – We have Open Source Beer!
That’s funny! 😀
#11 – Ron Larson – But I’ve always enjoyed their humorous TV ads. I wonder if that will change?
It would be wise to continue building the brand… especially when you’ve coughed up $49.9B.
Bud sold to Euros. This is a disaster. What will Corvette drivers and Harley riders drink? 🙂
Seriously, how can anyone be dumb enough to think that cheap tasteless beer needs to stay in American hands?
I only drink german beer. American beer is best for washing off driveways.
Budweiser is like horse urine.
@Sebhelyesfarku
That would be Coors not Budweiser. Budweiser is more like bottled water.
You know, years ago there was a big stink when the Japanese bought (Rockefeller Center?) and our icons were being lost. Too high prices were paid just before the real estate slump and many of the icons were bought back at a % to great profit. I thought to myself, was this just luck, or engineered by some black cabal?
And its fun to think Bud is another in this line. Just before America goes all over to Local Brew Pubs, we sell off the piss water giants to Europe.
Oh, that both parts of that could be true?