Anheuser Sues InBev, Now Everybody's Suing Everybody

BloggingStocks.com:

It seems that not a day goes by without some news regarding one of the largest deals Wall Street is following intently these days, InBev's $46 billion hostile takeover bid for Anheuser-Busch Cos Inc. (NYSE: BUD).

Not long ago, Reuters reported that Anheuser-Busch filed a suit Monday against InBev NV, calling the brewer's takeover attempt an "illegal plan and scheme" to acquire Anheuser "at a bargain price."

It isn't surprising the Budweiser maker has filed a suit. Only last week, when A-B officially rejected InBev's $46 billion offer, the latter filed a suit of its own as well as launched a proxy battle, filing a consent solicitation with regulators seeking to replace Anheuser's board. Anheuser's suit seeks an injunction to stop InBev's attempts to replace its board. Anheuser says it wants first to make sure certain alleged false and misleading statements are fixed.

Read the whole story: BloggingStocks.com

Comments

[AmericanSinceFeb08]

Remember AB buying Rolling Rock, shutting down the brewery in Latrobe,PA and now brewing it in St. Louis.

AB is a corporate monsterous giant that runs over small competitors. Capitalism at its best. That is OK.

Now when the repubs screwed the economy, dollar value has tanked, making US companies cheap for foreign investment.

Now AB starts screaming foul.. This is capitalism­.....

[KCFreedom]

I didn't know that about AB buying Rolling Rock & shutting down their brewery in PA. Now I don't like Rolling Rock anymore. I'll find a different cheap alternative without Mississippi river pollution in it.

Wonder where all those people layed off in PA found jobs?

[Bettysdad]

Has anyone asked McCain what it would do to his wife's fortunes should AB be purchased?

[bola47]

the first thing inbev should do is get rid of hensley.

[iambusto]

liberals are never happy.

selling out AB to Inbev - bad
Cut costs by 1 billion thwart the bid - bad

pick something.­..gee..

where was the restructuring plan when the stock was stagnating in between 50-55 for 5 years...ge­e...the management has screwed up big time. now its time to see unload to Inbev.

[visper]

There is a bit of hypocrisy in the reaction of the Board of Directors and Missouri politicians to the InBev offer of $65

3 years ago, when Pepsi was rumored to want to buy Danone, American business writers were very critical when the prior Prime Minister of France called the company "A jewel of France" and therefore impossible to be purchased by American interests. The subterfuge seemed to have worked because Pepsi never made an offer. The founding members who are still running the company have a very small part of the company (sort of like A-B).

Now we are using the French arguments.

The Busch's have less than 4% of the company, in total. Institutional investors (how American are they?) own bigger shares.

InBev (and their Brazilian operators), have a reputation of being effective in merging companies and operating them. In the early 90's InBev was a regional Belgian operator, and the present significant minority stockholders controlled Brahma in Brazil. Now they are the largest brewers in the world and one of the most profitable.

Present stockholders of A-B have two choices: 1) stay with the present operators and a hope of a $1 Billion cost reduction in the next three years ) or 2), a 13% higher price for their shares by taking the offer now.

Jingoism does not necessarily a profitable deal make. Danone's price share, by the way, is off the purported price that Pepsi would have offered. Just saying.

[stephenswain]

So InBev acquires AB. Then what: all of our hard-earned beer money goes to Germany? Who's next?

Let AB take advantage of every law on the books to achieve one of two ends:

1. Make InBev go away; or,
2. Make them pay for the brand equity and all the investment AB has made over a century in producing, distributing and marketing their mostly very average products. Because once the equity has changed hands, it's just another giant conglomerate, with such huge leverage that they can basically demand whatever terms they want for raw materials and labor. US farmers, processors, and workers lose again.

When we have been plundered by every foreign entity with assets in Euros or Pounds Sterling, what will we have left with which to reinvent our industrial capabilities? We need to wake up, fire most of the economists soothsayers who recommend such folly, and get cracking with more competitive strategies of our own.

[gumbygirl]

I have zero sympathy for AB. They bought the Rolling Rock brand, moved the operation to Newark, and put 250 American families out of work in a town (Latrobe PA) that cannot afford to lose more jobs. They deserve every bad thing that comes their way, and no-one should shed any tears for the Busch family. I found it absolutely hilarious when Claire McCaskill said it was "unpatriotic" not to support AB in their time of need. Where was her patriotism when AB destroyed an American company that had been in business for seventy years?

[shyamg22]

top post.

the busch family these past five years have done a lackluster job running the company. Big brewers in america are pisspoor. The crown jewels of american beer are the independent small breweries that craft quality ales.

gumbygirl is right. Inbev is doing to AB what AB has done to other smaller breweries. what goes around comes around.

also fyi to the OP, inbev is belgian not german.

i have been following this deal since the very beginning and the hypocrisy that comes out of many of the 'freetrader' politicians is astounding and humourous.

[Wulfstan]

The monopolists don't like it when their franchise is threatened.

The stock market is a place where owners of stock are supposed to be able to freely buy and sell their shares. Obviously many American corporations are considered bargains by Euro based corporations due to the weakness of the dollar caused primarily by the failed policies of the Bush administration.

What is to stop shareholders selling if they wish ?