July 14 (Bloomberg) -- InBev NV agreed to buy Anheuser-Busch Cos. in a $52 billion transaction that will make the Belgian company the top brewer in the world's five biggest beer markets.

The $70-a-share purchase announced today will give Leuven, Belgium-based InBev the biggest share in China, the U.S., Russia, Brazil and Germany, making it the world's largest brewer with the size to negotiate lower prices on everything from hops to electricity. InBev gains Anheuser's half share of the U.S. market, the industry's largest, as well as top-selling Bud Light and Budweiser.



I dunno, it just seems so wrong.

This was one of the last things that was still OURS. And now it's not anymore.  :(

 
This was one of the last things that was still OURS. And now it's not anymore.  :(


Hey, American microbreweries are still American.

And let's get real here; Budweiser was an adequate mass-produced lager, but it doesn't compare to the original Czech "Budvar" (originally "Budweiser", but they changed the centuries-old name after legal threats from Anheuser-Busch).  Try a few microbrews, and discover styles of beer other than lagers or pilsners.  There's a whole world of beer out there, and to limit oneself to mass-market pilsners and lagers is like eating nothing but Big Macs and other burgers from fast food chains.  There's nothing wrong with a Big Mac or a Whopper, but a guy who eats nothing but Big Macs doesn't know all there is to know all there is about hamburgers, let alone all there is to know about beef.

Leveraged buyouts (as typified by last year's fad of random private equity houses buying anything in sight) are impossible to perform in the current credit environment; that dog hasn't hunted since last year.  It's bloody hell to get bridge financing for strategic takeovers (two companies in related industries that might be more profitable together than apart), and the strategic buyouts that we've seen this week have all come with fat premiums attached:  Dow (NYSE:DOW) had to offer a 70%+ premium to get Rohm and Haas (NYSE:ROH), and this morning we saw the next phase in the battle between Waste Management (NYSE:WMI) and Allied Waste (NYSE:AW) for control of Republic Services (NYSE:RSG), with WMI playing the role of white knight.

(By way of disclosure, I have no positions in any of the securities mentioned.)

I agree with Al-B.  A Bud isn't a Bud anymore

Hey, American microbreweries are still American.

And let's get real here; Budweiser was an adequate mass-produced lager, but it doesn't compare to the original Czech "Budvar" (originally "Budweiser", but they changed the centuries-old name after legal threats from Anheuser-Busch).
Well, not quite - but "Budweiser" (in German) is an adjective (meaning "from Budweis") in much the same way as "Pilsener" (from Pilsen), so the Czech beer on this side of the pond is "Budweiser Budvar", the beer is called "Budvar" but made in the "Budweiser" style.  If you see what I mean.  The two breweries agreed to use different names when selling their product on different sides of the Atlantic... though Budvar has been very successful over the past few years in upping its profile through ongoing court cases with A-B, and because (not to put too fine a point on it) it is a much nicer beer than the US variant, it seems to me that it has managed to increase sales *because* of the confusion with the A-B product, which spends so much more on advertising :).





  Try a few microbrews, and discover styles of beer other than lagers or pilsners.  There's a whole world of beer out there, and to limit oneself to mass-market pilsners and lagers is like eating nothing but Big Macs and other burgers from fast food chains.
One of the reasons I'd most like to visit the US is to try some of the small brewery beer: all the mass-market exports are staggeringly bad beers, yet I've heard so many good things about US microbreweries and the beer they make... but can't get hold of any.

It doesn't really have anything to do with the beer.

AB always made poor quality domestic beer (of course, it's always been cheap). That's not the point here, the point is that here in Saint Louis we relied on AB for a huge number of jobs, constant charitable donations, keeping certain local landmarks running and funded (Busch Stadium, Grants Farm, Forest Park, The Muny - all benefit from enormous donations from AB), ensuring the continued survival of free clinics and hospitals that have seen their state funding cut, bringing music and events to the Saint Louis area (The Budweiser concert series at Riverport, Live on the Levee downtown) and ensuring that the people of this town had an entity to identify with.

Jobs will be cut, donations will be eliminated and once again, the people will suffer.


The best way I can explain what AB does for this community is with a short story -

The bar I like to drink at is owned by an old guy, his granddaughter had leukemia, his man at the brewery heard about this and took it up the ladder. As the bills mounted up (and anybody who knows any cancer patient will understand that these can be in the hundreds of thousands) AB stepped in and told him in no uncertain terms not to worry about it whatsoever, they'd take care of it. Understand, this wasn't an employee of theirs that had some company health plan, it was just a guy who'd sold their product in his bar, he never asked for any help but he received it anyway, there are so many people in this town that could tell you similar stories. You have to understand, I have issues with AB myself. They screwed the distribution unions and they do their best to keep a stranglehold monopoly (something Saint Louisans understand all too well, AB, Laclede, Ameren, HTC, the list of monopolies goes on) but they also give so much back to this city. That's going to be sorely missed in so many ways.

I agree with Al-B.  A Bud isn't a Bud anymore


BÜD LIGHT now?

Living in Williamsburg, VA, I am concerned about this takeover. Busch owns both major theme parks (Busch Gardens Europe and Water Country USA) as well as has a brewery here. From what I've read, the brewery is fairly safe (provided sales of Budweiser don't decline significantly), but the theme parks may be sold off to help pay back the money InBev is spending on this takeover. Busch owned parks have already taken a loss this year due to high fuel prices and less vacationers - who's gonna keep a money losing amusement park open?  Busch parks are manintained quite well - a different company could hose them up in just a few short years. While less tourists here is every locals' wish, the worst case scenario of losing both parks and the brewery would do serious damage to the local economy.

Ant

Nobody forced them to sell.  We have met the enemy; the enemy is us.
::)

I wonder what will happen to the poor horse mascots?  I loved seeing the Clydesdale horse team when I went to Busch Gardens back in the 80s and then again I saw them at Six Flags Amusement Park in Aurora, Ohio back in 2001.

Coors tastes better anyway...and it has those sweet blue mountains that tell you when it's cold!  (Because it's so hard to just reach out and touch the damn bottle...) 

Coors tastes better anyway...

I can only guess at the things Coors tasts better than...
8-P

Yuengling is about the only Anheuser-Busch product I drink.  Other than that, I can't stand most of their stuff.

One of the reasons I'd most like to visit the US is to try some of the small brewery beer: all the mass-market exports are staggeringly bad beers, yet I've heard so many good things about US microbreweries and the beer they make... but can't get hold of any.


What country (and if it's a large country, what geographical location in it?) do you live in?  What styles of beer do you enjoy?  There are probably some excellent beers available (either by bottle or at a brewpub or microbrewery) wherever you are, it's just a matter of finding them.

I didn't mind Bud so much, it was a light, refreshing beer, unlike Guinness or Bass Ale, which are more savor beers.  Budweiser always tasted fresh because they moved so much of it.  Oh, and they managed to not make it taste like a toxic waste dump, like Miller or Schlitz!
8-P

Nobody forced them to sell.  We have met the enemy; the enemy is us.
::)


Actually... you'll find that the whole reason they've ended up selling is because they were forced to. Of course, one could make the argument that if they hadn't expanded and become the hugely successful company they are then the family would still be the majority shareholder, but that would of course be an inane statement.


I can only guess at the things Coors tasts better than...
8-P


What Coors becomes tastes better than what Coors is.

What country (and if it's a large country, what geographical location in it?) do you live in?  What styles of beer do you enjoy?  There are probably some excellent beers available (either by bottle or at a brewpub or microbrewery) wherever you are, it's just a matter of finding them.

I'm in the UK - my favourite beers are all classic English ales, with maybe a Guinness thrown in.  And yes, there are some excellent local beers available, even some of the big boys do a decent beer (Fuller's ESB being one of 'em).  I could go on, but it would probably need to have its own thread :)

Actually... you'll find that the whole reason they've ended up selling is because they were forced to. Of course, one could make the argument that if they hadn't expanded and become the hugely successful company they are then the family would still be the majority shareholder, but that would of course be an inane statement.

What Coors becomes tastes better than what Coors is.

Karma for putting it so succinctly. 

I suppose they could have let themselves get run out of business slowly over the next dozen years!
:D

At least it wasn't sold to the Chinese.

Karma for putting it so succinctly. 

I suppose they could have let themselves get run out of business slowly over the next dozen years!
:D


Those were essentially the options available. In the 70's, 80's and early 90's they expanded fast, bought up smaller companies and ground out a huge market share, then in the late 90's and 00's the consolidation began but it just wasn't enough.

I'm in the UK - my favourite beers are all classic English ales, with maybe a Guinness thrown in.  And yes, there are some excellent local beers available, even some of the big boys do a decent beer (Fuller's ESB being one of 'em).  I could go on, but it would probably need to have its own thread :)


It should be easy to find beers comparable to British styles in Canada.  West Coast American IPAs will be recognizable, but will be much hoppier than yours.  You might even find them "unbalanced" or "overhopped", and by reference to the British style of IPA, you'd be right to find them unbalanced.  You'd be right... and I say that as a "hophead"; that is, as a fan of the west coast IPA style.  I've actually sunk my teeth into raw hops.  I couldn't get the taste out of my mouth for an hour, and I didn't mind, because it made every beer (and even the water I was drinking!) that much better :)

Stout-wise, you're already in heaven.  I'm big on Guinness as my benchmark stout.  Mackeson's is a great sweet stout, comparable.  Young's Chocolate Stout, you've probably already tried.  Do the Brits still do an Imperial Russian Stout?  (high-gravity stout, often 9-10% alcohol by volume, huge malty nose, massive flavor)  We do that pretty well in America, but I've not tasted the UK's equivalent to it to compare the two styles.  (Which is kind of embarassing, since it was the Europeans, and I believe specifically the Brits, who invented it in order to impress the Czars of Russia...)