One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them
In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.
-- J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings
An update on InBev's potential purchase of Anheuser-Busch:
PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) Mon Jun 2, 2008 - Anheuser-Busch Cos Inc hired Goldman Sachs Group Inc and Citigroup Inc as financial advisers as it braces for a potential takeover bid from Belgian brewing company InBev NV, sources familiar with the situation said on Monday. <...>
Anheuser-Busch, Citigroup and Goldman Sachs all declined to comment. InBev could not be reached immediately for comment.
Anheuser-Busch is "doing all the normal things you do when you feel like you're under attack. You circle the wagons and stockpile food and ammunition," said one source, who declined to be named.
Even if Anheuser-Busch fails to get an offer from InBev, its financial advisers will help explore various strategic options, sources said.
According to media reports, InBev has been trying to arrange a $50 billion funding package from a group of banks, including JP Morgan Chase & Co and Banco Santander SA.
It still is premature to speculate about funding details since InBev has yet to decide on a bid for Anheuser-Busch, one source cautioned.
Yet, given the tight credit markets and the difficulty in raising funding for deals, InBev would need the assurance of financing before it could press ahead with a formal offer, other sources said.
InBev, the brewer of Stella Artois, Beck's and Brahma, is eager to reclaim the title of the world's biggest brewer that it lost to SABMiller Plc earlier this year and drive consolidation in the global brewing industry. <...>
Miller, once owned by Philip Morris, was acquired by South African Breweries in 2002 to form SABMiller Plc. SABMiller has since agreed to merge its U.S. operations with those of Molson Coors Brewing Co.
A Florida couple has become so perturbed about Budweiser going the way of so many American business these days --overseas, that they have created a website called SaveBudweiser.com.
GE Appliances is likely to be foreign-owned shortly. Bobcat was sold to a Korean firm without a peep. But Anheuser-Busch’s Budweiser? No matter how much Belgian brewer InBev might be willing to pay, U.S. consumers might not be ready to see the King of Beers abdicate to foreign ownership.
Consider the Fowlers: “It’s the last of the American breweries,” says Wren Fowler, who with her husband Daniel has started SaveBudweiser.com, a Web site to galvanize support for Anheuser-Busch to stay in America. “I would hate to see that icon leave America. <...>
they “hope to get a big critical mass out there to get out the word that there are people here who want this company to stay American-owned and not go overseas. We’re just concerned that if it goes overseas, they have to do cost-cutting procedures. Anheuser-Busch would be cutting into charitable donations and the good they do.”
As for the beer itself, Mrs. Fowler sees it as beside the point. “I like the beer,” she says. But this is about something bigger.”
- A-B vs. Interbrew: The battle is joined. [26 June 2008]
- Will InBev's Bud hurt craft brewers? [15 June 2008]
- It's now a matter of dollars and euros at Anheuser-Busch [12 June 2008]
- SaveBudweiser.com?
- A-B deathwatch: 1 June
- Bud to be sold? part3
- Bud to be sold? part2
- Budweiser for sale?
- InBev now world's largest brewer (over A-B) [2007]
.png)
I think a better cause would be "JustSayNoToMergers.com". My company went through a big merger 7 years ago. Oh the humanity. Now I just heard we bought out another big company. Here we go again. The only one's who benefit in these big mergers are the deal makers. They make a quick cool couple of million and end up chopping headcount of thousands of poor souls who work there. Corporations are getting way too big these days. And what happens when those big companies go bust and there's nobody else around to make their products any longer? Not a good thing.
ReplyDelete