Stella firm buys Budweiser brewer

The US brewer Anheuser-Busch has agreed to be taken over by Belgium-based InBev, in a move that will create the world's largest beer maker.

The $50bn (£25bn) takeover bid by InBev, which makes Stella Artois beer, was accepted by Anheuser's board.

Anheuser makes Budweiser - the most popular beer in the US - and some US politicians had expressed anger at the prospect of a foreign takeover.

In a concession to political concerns about the deal, Budweiser's headquarters will remain in St Louis, Missouri while none of Anheuser's US breweries will be closed.

InBev is offering to pay $70 a share for Anheuser in a deal which must be approved by shareholders of both businesses.

The combined business will have annual sales of $36.4bn, equivalent to 460 million hectoliters of beer a year.

It will bring a host of popular brands including Beck's, Hoegaarden and Staropramen - in addition to Budweiser and Stella - under one roof.

InBev, itself formed by a giant merger several years ago, described the deal as "historic".

"Together, Anheuser-Busch and InBev will be able to accomplish much more than each can on its own," said InBev boss Carlos Brito, who will become chief executive of the new firm.

"This combination will create a stronger, more competitive global company with an unrivalled worldwide brand portfolio and distribution network, with great potential for growth all over the world."

Anheuser boss August Busch said the transaction would "enhance global market access for Budweiser, one of America's truly iconic brands".

There are widespread fears that the deal will lead to substantial job losses in the US Midwest at a time while the threat of recession is hanging over the economy.

The two firms have said the deal will generate annual savings of $1.5bn but have suggested that job losses will be kept to a minimum because there is little current overlap between the two businesses.

Anheuser currently controls nearly half of the US market, while InBev is strong in Western European and Latin American markets. Anheuser also owns stakes in Mexican brewer Grupo Modelo and Chinese brewer Tsingtao.

The deal should give Budweiser a platform to boost its growth in Europe where, apart from a number of markets like the UK, it has been relatively weak.

The beer market has been rapidly consolidating in the face of cost pressures and declining sales in many mature markets.

Scottish & Newcastle, the UK's largest brewer, was recently bought out by Heineken and Carlsberg.

Yet in your multiple posts, you claim to know what the outcome will be, but haven't provided any evidence or facts to back up your position. I have stated what my concerns were. Are you and the Boogermeister not able to understand what that is vs a definitive declaration?

Will InBev ultimately cut a sizeable number of positions within AB here in America? Maybe so. Maybe not. Only time will tell. But I don't see them spending $52 Billion on AB and engaging in actions to reduce the value of the purchase. Let alone to drastically reduce its value.

And quickly, or even out in the future just a little, to start slashing AB jobs will almost without doubt, cause a beer drinker revolt against them. I was a member of a privately held LLC. The owner saw some industry problems on the horizon, and sold his firm to corporation one. Unsolicited, I told him I thought the move was a sound one on his part, and I congratulated him. I still think it was a good move for him. It was his business, and he was sharp to do it. He made agreements with the corporation that would protect our employees. He didn't have to do it. Corporation two came along thirty days later and bought out corporation one. In thirty days the one stand alone business was part of a conglomeratition that that now represented perhaps 20 to 35% of the United States market in that field. It was a massive corporation.

When the second corporation jumped in, it sliced outlets by consolidating. I was employed at the largest concern of it's kind in the United States. Unfortunately, so were the employees of four other outlets. My position was one that was a corporate in-house postion back east, and even though they tried to work things out, over a period of time those who had held the job I took during the interum, ultimately had more experince and expertise and I was let go.

I'm not crying in spilled milk here. I had seen what was taking place, and I was realistic about the outcome. I positioned myself well and rode it out. I think they did the proper thing. I was somewhat revlieve to go.

During the transition, I complied with the corporate team sent in to help us do what we had to do. I consulted with and followed the policies that were presented by this team. I took actions with my staff that were intended to accomplish what I had been asked to do, and realized those goals. I followed the direction of my on site Executive Director, and other site executives.

And then I took heat for doing exactly what the corporate start-up team had asked me to do, for what the Executive Director had asked me to do, and for not being able to work my end of the operation with half the FTEs of facilities half our size had.

And the outcome was that we lost 20 to 35% of our business, angered many of our customers which hadn't left by the time I had, and would certainly be impacting the concern negatively long into the future. And during the time I was leaving, they started to implement another policy that was sure to rub customers the wrong way.

Look, this stuff happens. I could care less. Acting like we know what Budweiser will face over the next 24 months is silly. Some good points can be made that we have a pretty good idea, but I have seen corporations make decsions that went against their own corporate interests. I have seen them destroy 20 to 35% of their business, making decsions nobody was certainly why they were making, including the site Executive Director.

You folks think you know what will happen. You're happy with that. So am I. Will you be right? We'll see.

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