InBev St. Louis | Anheuser-Busch Inbev St. Louis, MO

Budweiser still big on Super Bowl ads—at least for now

2009-02-03T08:40:00.000-06:00

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Some wonder if Anheuser-Busch's new owner will reduce marketing

You can mark the years of Super Bowl play by the teams on the field, or the Anheuser-Busch commercials on the screen.

Super Bowl XXIX? That's when three frogs sequentially croaked "Bud," "Weis," "Er." Super Bowl XXXV? That's the year Cedric the Entertainer got a bit too excited and doused a hot date in beer. Last year? A Dalmatian guided a washed-up Clydesdale horse back to greatness, all set to the tune of "Rocky."

As usual, Anheuser-Busch will be a huge advertiser for the big game Sunday, trotting out commercials featuring the latest adventures of its venerable Clydesdales and a spot starring Conan O'Brien. The company's advertising agency, DDB Chicago, has been toiling over them since last summer, poring over hundreds of scripts.

The question is, will they have as big of a workload next year and thereafter? The sale of Anheuser-Busch to InBev last year for $52 billion has led some beverage and ad industry analysts to predict cuts in Bud's massive ad budget.

Belgium-based InBev is known for aggressive cost-cutting, not aggressive marketing. An Anheuser-Busch executive says neither Bud's ad spending nor ad strategy has changed. But the deal, reached in July, only closed in November.

"The InBev guys really haven't put their stamp on the company yet," said John Greening, who long worked at DDB Chicago on Anheuser-Busch accounts and now is a professor at Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management. "It's a whole new game."

It's a whole new economy, too. Since the Anheuser-Busch deal was unveiled, recession has spread globally, ratcheting up pressure to cut costs of all kinds.

Anheuser-Busch has long had a commanding share of the U.S. beer market, and Bud Light is far and away the most popular beer brand. The company's marketing prowess has been a key factor in its success, and DDB Chicago has been part of that marketing effort since the 1970s.

Spuds McKenzie sprang from the minds of DDBers. Ditto for the "I love you, man" spots in the 1990s; the "Whassup" campaign a few years back; and, more recently, the "Dude" commercials for Bud Light. "They've had a very good run," Greening said.

Anheuser-Busch is one of DDB Chicago's biggest clients, and DDB is the lead agency for the Bud and Bud Light brands. The ad shop is the "mothership" for Anheuser-Busch's creative work, said Barry Burdiak, who heads DDB's Budweiser work. As for the big brewer, "they are a deep passionate lover that needs a lot of attention."

Indeed, Anheuser-Busch spends a lot of money on advertising, $381 million alone for the first nine months of 2008, according to TNS Media Intelligence. It's not clear how much of the brewer's ad budget goes into DDB's billings.

For the Super Bowl, Burdiak and Mark Gross, who heads up DDB's Bud Light efforts, usually start work in early fall at their offices in the Aon Center, though ideas may be hatched well before that, as they were this year. By mid-January, DDB has produced 12 to 18 rough-draft spots, which are shown to test audiences in three cities, usually Dallas, Los Angeles and Atlanta. Anheuser-Busch makes the selection in late January.

It's a costly ad play: 30-second Super Bowl slots go for about $3 million, though Anheuser-Busch pays somewhat less because it buys so much time. It's rare that any televised event could be big enough to justify rates of more than $1 million for 30 seconds, Greening said. In fact, a World Series spot of that duration cost just $392,000 last year, according to TNS Media Intelligence.

But Anheuser-Busch figures the Super Bowl is worth the investment: Spots premiered at the game will run for months, even years in the case of some ads featuring the Clydesdales. Plus, Super Bowl ads get all sorts of free media buzz, culminating in USA Today's post-game ad ranking. Anheuser-Busch won for the 10th consecutive year in 2008.

For the first time in a long time, PepsiCo, not Anheuser-Busch, this year will be the Super Bowl's biggest advertiser. Including spots for its Gatorade, SoBe Lifewater and Cheetos products, PepsiCo will have 5 to 6 minutes. But Bud is back with its usual truckload of advertising, filling 41/2 minutes with seven separate spots. All but one were created by DDB Chicago.

Anheuser-Busch "has a rich and deep brand marketing legacy and culture," Credit Suisse analyst Carlos Laboy wrote last summer when the brewer accepted InBev's takeover offer. InBev, on the other hand, has been known as a marketing laggard, its growth coming mostly from buying other beer companies and then slashing costs.

Still, InBev's Chief Executive Carlos Brito said last summer that the company wouldn't let up on Bud marketing. And Credit Suisse analysts say they believe InBev has gotten religion on marketing. "Our last two meetings with management have indicated to us that brand building has finally become a top priority at the highest levels of the organization," they said in a January report.

Bob Lachky, Anheuser-Busch's creative director, said "there's nothing changing" in the company's ad strategies under the new ownership.

Still, some analysts expect retrenchment, particularly given the grim turn in the economy since the deal was agreed upon. "They didn't figure Joe Sixpack would be unemployed," said Tom Pirko, president of beverage industry consultant Bevmark.

While the beer industry is relatively recession-resistant, troubling signs have been brewing in recent months across the globe.

In the United Kingdom, beer sales sank 8.3 percent during the fourth quarter compared with a year earlier, according to the British Beer and Pub Association. Diageo, maker of Guinness, recently said it is delaying an $842 million expansion at an Irish brewery because of the economic downturn. And in the United States, MillerCoors' sales declined 2.3 percent during the fourth quarter.

With the troubled economy and the massive debt InBev took on for the deal, the company will likely revert to its cost-slashing ways, some analysts say. "They have to dig into advertising at some point," Pirko said. Greening agreed, and said the relationship between Anheuser-Busch and DDB could change too.

The agency has long had a strong relationship with not only Lachky, but also the historic stewards of Anheuser-Busch, the Busch family, Greening said. Indeed, August Busch IV often personally reviewed DDB's ads.

"Now that the Busch family is not making the calls, I don't know how strong that relationship is," Greening said. But he added, "I don't why they'd walk away from [DDB] given what DDB Chicago has done."

mhughlett@tribune.com

InBev slow to pay all vendors

2009-02-03T08:39:00.002-06:00

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A change in how Anheuser-Busch InBev pays its vendors is certain to aggravate local companies.

Lager Heads, a blog written by St. Louis Post-Dispatch writer Jeremiah McWilliams, reported that the company is changing its timeframe for paying suppliers to 120 days. “Anheuser-Busch typically pays its accounts in 30 days,” wrote McWilliams.

Rick Hines, vice president of sales at Patriot Buick-Pontiac-GMC, got one of the letters this week.

“They’ve been a customer for 30 years,” Hines said Friday. “We do repair work as well as vehicle inspections for Busch Entertainment and Busch Properties.”

Like others, the letter sent to Hines was blunt: “If you are not able to work with the change in payment terms, we may have to consider an alternative supplier,” one line reads.

Patriot’s response?

“We told them the terms were unacceptable,” he said. “We’re happy to continue doing business with them, but at the terms we’ve enjoyed for the last 30 years.”

An Anheuser-Busch spokesman told Lager Heads the new terms are driven by InBev, which bought Anheuser-Busch last year for $52 billion.

“Our decision,” he said, “ensures that Anheuser-Busch’s payment practices are consistent with those in place globally for A-B InBev.”

Some mom-and-pops delay payment for lack of cash. Big companies sometimes do it for “float,” to earn interest on the owed money. Yet interest rates are at all-time lows, so it’s a marginal advantage these days.

Locally, Ball Metal and Owens-Illinois are primary suppliers to Anheuser-Busch. Owens-Illinois provides bottles for beer while Ball makes the cans.

Dennis Lutz, administrative manager at Ball Metal in Grove, said his plant supplies the brewery with all of its 12-ounce cans, and sends 16-ounce cans to breweries in New York, New Jersey and Ohio. In all, 1.4 billion cans a year are produced here solely for Busch.

How the payment change will affect Ball is unclear. Lutz said that no payments are received by the local plant, but rather the Ball headquarters in Denver. “It’s a one-time issue,” he said. “After that, it gets into a regular cycle.”

The initial delay, however, will deeply hurt a supplier’s cash flow. The 120-day lag is ironic, given that Budweiser’s freshness guarantee is 110 days.

Lutz said the impact would likely be greater on small suppliers.

Scott McCarty, spokesman for Ball’s corporate office, said he could not discuss the terms of the company’s contracts with its customers. A call to the local Owens-Illinois plant was not returned.

Hines pointed out how smaller businesses often give more than they take in a relationship with large companies.

“Considering the discounts we had to give to earn their business, we had to decide if the little bit of profit we made was worth it. We’d like to keep them as a customer, but it’s their prerogative.”

The blogger McWilliams also reported that lengthening payment schedules appears to be old hat for InBev. “Back in June 2007, the Forum of Private Business, a U.K. trade group, blasted InBev and tried to shame the company for lengthening payment terms to 60 days. The group’s executive chairman called the move ‘an abuse of buying power.'"

Anheuser-Busch Inbev Pares Stake in China Brewer

2009-02-03T08:37:00.000-06:00

By JOHN W. MILLER

Anheuser Busch-Inbev NV, the world's biggest beer maker, said Friday it is selling most of its stake in Tsingtao Brewery Co., China's number two brewer, to Japan's Asahi Breweries Ltd. for $667 million.

The deal follows last year's $52 billion acquisition of U.S. icon Anheuser-Busch by Belgium's Inbev. After completing the cash-based transaction, ABInbev had trouble completing its $45 billion loan package due to the global financial crisis. It now has $14 billion in debt to pay off.

Asahi will get a 20% stake in Tsingtao, with ABInbev retaining a 7% share. It is the first of five assets ABInbev Chief Executive Carlos Brito has said he might sell. The others are U.S. theme parks such as SeaWorld and Busch Gardens and Korean and German breweries, including the one that makes the popular brand Beck's. Mr. Brito has estimated their total worth at $7 billion.

ABInbev is still committed to China, the world's biggest beer market, Mr. Brito said. The company's strategy is to bring core Western brands like Budweiser and Stella Artois into emerging markets, analysts say.

ABInbev owns over 20 brewers in China, making it the country's third-largest beer maker, a spokeswoman said.

"With strong local brands such as Harbin and Sedrin and global brands such as Budweiser, we are well positioned to benefit from the significant potential in this important market," Mr. Brito said in a statement Friday.

The company, based in Belgium and New York, said the deal would "unlock shareholder value" as it works to repay debt from the Anheuser-Busch deal.

ABInbev has also been busy on the bond market. This month, it raised $5 billion in the U.S. and $2.5 billion in Europe.

The brewer's Brazilian leaders, including Mr. Brito, have a reputation for cost cutting. In December, the company said it would cut 1,400 U.S. jobs. This month, it promised to close a U.K. brewery, trimming 182 positions.

The sale of most of its stake in a Chinese brewer once considered a jewel by Inbev leaders is also a sign of the new relevance of Chinese competition authorities. In November, they approved Inbev's merger with Anheuser-Busch on condition the combined company not increase its Tsingtao stake.

Although Beijing didn't explicitly order ABInbev to sell the stake, it signaled the brewer wouldn't be given free rein. That probably contributed to the decision, analysts said.

"The path to clearance may now often feature Beijing as much as Brussels and Washington," said David Anderson, a partner in the Brussels office of London-based Berwin Leighton Paisner LLP.

The Chinese antitrust decision had no impact on ABInbev's move to trim its Tsingtao stake, the ABInbev spokeswoman said.

Write to John W. Miller at john.miller@dowjones.com

Super Bowl 2009 Budweiser Ads stick to Clydesdales

2009-01-19T15:16:00.001-06:00

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European brewer InBev bought Anheuser-Bush in 2008. To keep Americans in the impression that nothing has changed and a Budweiser is still as American as a beer can be (By the way Monty Phyton described American Beer already back in 1982 as f%^&ing close to water).

Adage reports that Anheuser-Bush is at least placing three Clydesdales ads during Super Bowl 2009.

Last year the Clydesdales Super Bowl ad was the best Super Bowl Ads according to Ad Meter. More details on Adage.

Super Bowl 2009 will be happening on Sunday February 1st. This Super Bowl is a treat for geeks that is why we will cover it even more than in 2008. Despite the recession a 30 second Super Bowl Ad costs about $3m and there should be lots of must see Commercials again. There will be for instance the first 3D Super Bowl Ads and lots of Super Bowl Ads featuring new 2009 Sci-fi Movies including the new Star Trek and the next Transformers movie. So make sure you have your Super Bowl sized LCD HDTV and NFL Gear ready.

Anheuser-Busch InBev wants to open New York office

2009-01-19T15:15:00.001-06:00

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Anheuser-Busch InBev (Euronext: ABI) on Thursday announced it plans to open an office in New York to support the needs of the newly combined organization.

The company provided no timetable for opening the new office. It would host members of management, along with members of the company's marketing, finance, human resources, supply, and legal teams.

InBev acquired Anheuser-Busch in November.

The U.S. has become the company's largest market, generating 40 percent of its earnings, according to Anheuser-Busch InBev, the brewer of Budweiser, Stella Artois, and Beck's brands.

The Leuven, Belgium-based beer maker has a plant that employs approximately 940 at 2885 Belgium Road in the town of Lysander.

Opening a New York office could lead to as many as 89 layoffs at the global headquarters in Belgium. Anheuser-Busch InBev hopes to find jobs for those employees at other locations in Belgium.

The company announced Dec. 8 it would cut 1,400 salaried jobs, or 6 percent of its total U.S. work force. It's not clear how the reduction affected the Lysander plant because the company wouldn't disclose job cuts for individual plants.

Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com

Buyers await Anheuser-Busch InBev asset sale

2009-01-19T15:13:00.000-06:00

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The Financial Times newspaper has an interesting piece here discussing the possible sale of Anheuser-Busch’s theme parks. The story says that “Busch Entertainment, the group’s theme park business, which owns SeaWorld Orlando, is expected to be one of the first business units put up for sale with a possible price of up to $4 billion.” Possible buyers include Walt Disney and Universal Studios, according to the newspaper.

Anheuser-Busch InBev needs to sell “non-core” assets to pay back some of the debt it took on to form the combined company last year.

A-B InBev transfers Bevo Mill to St. Louis city

2009-01-19T15:12:00.000-06:00

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Anheuser-Busch InBev has turned over the iconic Bevo Mill building and windmill in south St. Louis to the city.

David Gilbert and Patrick Viehmann operate the restaurant at Bevo Mill, at 4749 Gravois Ave., and had leased the property from the brewer. A-B InBev has transferred the land to the city for a dollar, Gilbert said, and lease payments will now go to the city of St. Louis.

“InBev is pretty much selling off all Busch properties, which is what we all kind of expected,” he said. “There are advantages to leasing from the city, which can help with improvements to maintain the historic character of the building.”

August Busch Sr. built the restaurant and five-story windmill in 1917 along Gravois, halfway between his home at Grant’s Farm and the brewery. Busch used the restaurant to entertain associates and as a private dining hall.

Since the restaurant was a retail beer outlet, the brewery had to stop operating it under new rules following Prohibition’s repeal.

The German-inspired restaurant, where female workers wear traditional dresses and male employees don lederhosen, was closed to all but private parties from 2001 through 2006, but then Gilbert and Viehmann reopened it as a restaurant.

Belgium-based InBev bought St. Louis-based Anheuser-Busch Cos. Inc. in a $52 billion deal that closed in November. Anheuser-Busch is now a wholly owned subsidiary of the newly named Anheuser-Busch InBev.

Recession hits beer sales

2009-01-19T15:05:00.002-06:00

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Beer sales are known for being recession-resistant, but that isn't looking to be the case this time around. The London-based brewer behind the Miller brand recently reported that its shipments dropped unexpectedly in the third quarter. MillerCoors said its premium light brand volumes were down 2.4%. MillerLite sales were down 7.5%

Not surprisingly, the weakness in sales is being driven by smaller orders at restaurants and bars, which are anything but recession-proof. But it seems that some people are opting to skip out on beer entirely instead of heading to the liquor store to take home a case of Keystone Light.

Beer sales normally grow at about 1% per year -- in 2008, they only grew by half that amount. But it could get worse in 2009.

I can't help but wonder whether the combination of plunging 401(k)s and foreclosures has people thinking they need something a little more potent than beer. The Dayton Business Journal reports that in Ohio -- one of the harder hit sates -- sales of liquor containing more than 21% alcohol rose 5% in 2008. The top-seller was the bargain basement Kamchatka Vodka, which moved 380,465 gallons in that state.

St. Louis bids farewell to local A-B ownership

2008-12-09T09:24:00.001-06:00

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ST. LOUIS: Few American cities are as closely linked to a company as St. Louis is to Anheuser-Busch, making for a difficult day for some here when Belgium-based InBev closed its $52 billion buyout of the brewer.

The Anheuser-Busch-InBev combination, which was completed on Tuesday, creates the largest beer company in the world, and one of the top five consumer product companies.

St. Louisans have had months to grow accustomed to the deal, but word that the brewer would no longer be locally owned still raises worries about what that will mean for the region's economy — and its psyche.

The brewer employs about 5,700 people in the St. Louis area and pays roughly $32 million in state and local taxes and fees. Anheuser-Busch donated about $13 million to philanthropic and charitable organizations last year.

The company said in a statement Tuesday that it has not made any additional changes to its work force, adding that "InBev has affirmed its commitment to the community." St. Louis will remain the North American headquarters for the company.

Brewery tours that draw hundreds of thousands of visitors annually to the red-brick Anheuser-Busch complex in the Soulard neighborhood are expected to continue, as are symbols long associated with the brewery, like its famed teams of Clydesdale horses.

Robert Archibald, president of the Missouri Historical Society, said he has heard people are worried about "the loss of one of the last St. Louis icons," but he thought the city's strengths will allow it to "do just fine."

Brewing has historically been an important industry in St. Louis, brought about by waves of German immigrants who came to the region before the Civil War. Beer, which would not have been pasteurized at the time, was often stored underground in area caves to keep it cold.

Anheuser-Busch had its roots in the Bavarian brewery, which Eberhard Anheuser acquired in 1860. His son-in-law, Adolphus Busch, in 1864 joined the company that would later become Anheuser-Busch.

There used to be dozens of breweries in St. Louis, but Archibald noted Anheuser-Busch developed its reputation through its marketing genius.

In St. Louis, the brewery's name is commonplace, glowing on signs at Busch Stadium where the major league baseball Cardinals play and marking the business' many corporate sponsorships of area programs and events.

In Archibald's view, there was a certain inevitability that the long-standing business, closely associated with a family, would change into a larger company and operate on a global scale.

But all the economic realities in the world can't sway St. Louis residents, for whom the loss of local A-B ownership feels personal.

"It's kind of a shame we're losing local control of it, but I expect I'll still like the beer," said Jerry Venverloh, 85. He and classmates from his 1937 graduating class from Our Lady of Sorrows elementary school gathered there for lunch.

Venverloh said he expects changes will come to the brewery in St. Louis, including a reduction in jobs, now that the deal is complete.

"In my working life, I've been in situations where new owners come in, and say they'll keep everything the same. Six months later, everything changes," he said.

St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay said the company's chief executive, Carlos Brito, phoned him Tuesday afternoon. Brito said he and a team of employees will spend several months making changes at Anheuser-Busch, but Slay sounded a positive note.

"Closing the Anheuser-Busch InBev deal, of course, means that thousands of St. Louisans will now be sharing one of the largest infusions of wealth into this region in our history," Slay said in a statement. "Given the state of the national economy, it probably could not come at a better time."

AB Inbev says it will cut 1,400 US jobs

2008-12-09T09:23:00.000-06:00

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BRUSSELS (AFP) — Newly merged brewing giant Anheuser-Busch InBev said Monday it would cut 1,400 jobs in the United States as part of its recently closed takeover of Anheuser-Busch.

The Belgium-based brewing giant also said it would not fill 250 US positions and that 415 contractor jobs would be eliminated.

"To keep the business strong and competitive, this is a necessary but difficult move for the company," Anheuser-Busch President David Peacock said in a statement.

"We will assist in the transition for these employees as much as possible," he added.

The cuts, which will affect about six percent of the company's US workforce, would come at both Anheuser-Busch's St. Louis corporate headquarters, at breweries and its distribution network.

The group closed its takeover of Anheuser-Busch last month, ending Anheuser's roughly 150 years of independence as a premier American brewer while creating the world's largest beer company.

The new company is expected to have net sales of about 36 billion dollars a year, offering consumers some 300 brands, including Anheuser's Budweiser and Bud Light, and InBev's Stella Artois and Beck's.

The job reductions come on top of more than 1,000 cuts already carried out through a voluntary retirement scheme that closed in mid November.

The bid for Anheuser-Busch had stirred fierce opposition in the company's home state of Missouri where Governor Matt Blunt has called the prospect of a foreign takeover "deeply troubling."

Employees who lose their jobs are to receive severance pay and pension benefits based on age and years of service as well as other benefits such as help finding other work.

The company said that it expected the cuts, most of which are to take place this year, to cost it about 197 million dollars and that they are part of 1.5 billion dollars in synergies expected to be created by the merger.

Anheuser-Busch InBev's memo about job cuts

2008-12-09T09:13:00.000-06:00

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December 8, 2008
To: All Anheuser-Busch U.S. Employees

Over the past few weeks, the senior management of our organization has made very difficult decisions, and today we are announcing a workforce reduction of approximately 1,400 salaried people in our U.S. beer-related divisions, with about 75 percent coming from our St. Louis organization at headquarters, downtown offices and our Sunset Hills offices. The primary groups affected are engineering, information technology and other corporate positions.

Most reductions will occur before the end of the year, with the remainder taking effect next year. These reductions are in addition to the more than 1,000 people company-wide who will retire before the end of the year and in addition to the 250 positions that are open system-wide and that will remain unfilled. An additional 415 contractor positions will be eliminated. BEC and Anheuser-Busch Packaging Group employees are not affected by this announcement.

A press release announcing these reductions can be accessed on the A-B Web site here http://abweb.corp.anheuser-busch.com/ablil2/docs/ABInBevpressrelease8Dec2008a.pdf.

These decisions are a result of a careful review of each department. As expected, there are overlapping functions and synergies gained through the merger, which have driven part of these reductions. Others are the result of ongoing efficiency improvements and additional cost-reductions, including lower capital expenditures. These were not easy decisions, but were necessary for the organization.

The people affected will be offered severance benefits that we hope will help ease the transition as much as possible. In addition to severance pay and pension benefits, displaced employees will be offered one year of medical coverage, 2009 vacation pay and outplacement services.

We know this will be very difficult – many good workers who are trusted and valued in the organization will not remain. We respect and are grateful for their many contributions. They are, and always will be, a part of this company’s legacy of quality – we have long said, once a member of the Anheuser-Busch family, always a member.

In the coming days, your managers and people representatives will be meeting with employees to advise them of their status. We appreciate your utmost professionalism and esteem extended toward each of your colleagues during this period of transition. We also thank you for remaining focused on results and in managing through this uncertain and unfortunate time. The spirit of this company – which comes from its people – has never been more evident than it is now.

Anheuser-Busch soon to be owned by Inbev

2008-11-13T13:45:00.000-06:00

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It is almost official, the nation's largest brewery will soon belong to a Belgium company.

Anheuser-Busch shareholders approved the sale of the company to Belgium based Inbev.

The 52-billion dollar deal is expected to close by the end of the year.

Once the deal is final, Inbev's North American operations will move to St. Louis, Missouri, where Anheuser-Busch was founded more than 150 years ago.

'A bittersweet day' for A-B

2008-11-13T13:44:00.000-06:00

SECAUCUS, N.J. — After 156 years, it had come down to this.

In a ballroom at the Crowne Plaza hotel a few miles from Manhattan, August A. Busch IV stepped up to a lectern festooned with an Anheuser-Busch eagle. He looked out at a crowd of 150 shareholders.

"By my watch, it's 12 o'clock," said Busch. Decision time.

Noon Wednesday marked one of the last stepping stones on Anheuser-Busch's path to selling itself to Belgian brewer InBev. Shareholders had a choice: accept or reject one of the biggest corporate takeovers in history.

Anheuser-Busch, only a few years removed from being the world's biggest beer maker, had never hosted a shareholders meeting like this. InBev's $52 billion buyout would end Anheuser-Busch's reign as the biggest independent American brewer.

In 25 minutes, it was all over.

Anheuser-Busch announced what Wall Street had expected: Shareholders voted overwhelmingly to accept the buyout of $70 per share, in cash. Owners of more than two-thirds of Anheuser-Busch stock voted. Of shares voted, 96 percent — 497 million shares — were cast in favor of the deal.

In a nasty year for investors, InBev offered a heavy premium to Anheuser-Busch's historical value. It was too good to pass up, shareholders said. But a few voted "yes" with mixed emotions.

"It's very sad to come to this," said Marie Sigmund-Markheim, whose husband worked in Anheuser-Busch's New Jersey yeast plant before it was closed. She was not rejoicing, she insisted, even though she had already voted for the deal. "What can you do?"

The talk among shareholders reflected the conflicted views about the takeover. America is losing an icon, said one man. No, said another, everybody will be better off for the deal — you've got to keep pace with the times.
bullet Get more coverage of Anheuser-Busch's historic meeting at our new 'Lagerheads' beer blog
bullet Follow the history and timeline of the InBev purchase of Anheuser-Busch

UNCERTAIN TIMES

A thousand miles away, St. Louisans seemed resigned to the news.

"Not happy," said Don Moore, 55, a carpenter who was enjoying a Bud Light on Wednesday afternoon at DB's, a sports bar not far from the brewery. "I feel like they've been supporting the neighborhood, the city, and I don't know that'll happen anymore. I don't know what's going to happen."

Coming after Anheuser-Busch's board unanimously recommended InBev's offer, the vote was expected to be a formality. The deal still awaits regulatory approval in China, the U.K. and the U.S. InBev and Anheuser-Busch said they expected the deal to close by the end of the year.

Then, a new company will emerge: Anheuser-Busch InBev. It will be the world's biggest brewer, selling one of every four beers across the globe.

The combined entity "will have more than double the profitability of its largest competitor, SABMiller," said analyst Lauren Torres of HSBC. "The combination of these two companies should create one incredibly powerful global brewer."

Anheuser-Busch, one of the biggest employers in St. Louis and probably the city's best-known corporate citizen, didn't go down without a fight. For weeks this summer, it resisted InBev's initial offer of $65 a share, arguing that the offer underestimated its potential and the value of its brands. Veiled threats and lawsuits flew between St. Louis and Leuven, Belgium.

But when InBev came back to the table with an offer of $70 a share, in cash, Anheuser-Busch's board quickly lent their seal of approval.

That was four months ago. Since then, St. Louis has gradually come to grips with the oncoming reality: Anheuser-Busch, long a point of pride in the city, will become a subsidiary of a foreign company, its fate no longer controlled from One Busch Place.

Anheuser-Busch employees also feel the loss of control.

Rumors about imminent mass layoffs before the deal closes have swept through the brewer, spurring A-B to deny this in a recent communique to employees.

Still, employees worry about a future under an owner known for its intense cost-cutting, no-frills culture.

"People are nervous. They're nervous about change," said one A-B employee Wednesday afternoon.

Leaving work at the brewery, another employee said: "I'm concerned there will be a lot of people leaving soon."

Both A-B employees requested anonymity because they've been told not to speak to reporters.

Juli Niemann, analyst at Smith, Moore & Co., thinks layoffs are on the way at the brewery.

Things will look meaner going forward, she believes, with job cuts concentrated in support areas, such as marketing promotion, advertising and administration as InBev CEO Carlos Brito takes an ax to costs.

Those that took the early buyouts will get the best deal, Niemann says: "They'll be a conga line down Pestalozzi Street."

In June, Anheuser-Busch announced aggressive cost-cutting measures that included buying out up to 1,300 older, white-collar workers.

DIFFICULT DECISION

Some shareholders who voted for the deal Wednesday reminisced about Anheuser-Busch's legacy. Julie Woytowich, 90, worked for Anheuser-Busch at its Newark brewery for 34 years, starting in 1951 as a clerk and working her way up to a supervising position. She came to the meeting with her nephew.

"We were very fortunate to work for a company like Anheuser-Busch," she said before the meeting. "I loved going to work. It's not all money."

The all-business meeting was a far cry from Anheuser-Busch's typical show. Only a few months ago, Anheuser-Busch executives traveled down to its SeaWorld park in Orlando to host the company's annual meeting. It was an upbeat affair.

Chilled beer on ice stood ready under palm trees. A red beer wagon with a hitch of Clydesdales stood outside. Inside the conference center, Busch showed off one of the company's top-ranked Super Bowl commercials, chatted about Anheuser-Busch's NASCAR sponsorship, and invited the hundreds of retired shareholders to try some new Bud Light Lime.

"We're going to have a great year," he said at the April meeting.

It ended up being Anheuser-Busch's most eventful year ever, as it first rejected and then accepted InBev's overture.

On Wednesday, Busch defended the deal that would end his family's reign at the top of Anheuser-Busch after five generations.

Weighing the offer and eventually deciding to support the deal "was a very difficult decision for any board to make," he said during Wednesday's meeting. "It was discussed and debated extensively."

In the end, Busch said, Anheuser-Busch's board judged that a tie-up with InBev would be the best option for shareholders and would lead to a "promising future" for everyone involved — including employees, he said.

Sending greater quantities of Budweiser into more international markets — one of InBev's stated goals — fulfills "the global ambitions of my family," Busch said. "We are about to sell more beer, to more people, in more countries than any other company in the history of brewing beer."

During a brief comment period, one San Francisco shareholder stood up to make an impassioned plea to nix the deal. The buyout would mean jobs lost and put Anheuser-Busch's charity efforts in jeopardy, she said.

"It's not too late to vote for the common good," she urged the other shareholders.

Patrick Stokes, the company's chairman, politely thanked her. Then the votes were counted. Ninety-six percent in favor. Meeting adjourned. Lounge music came on over the loudspeakers.

"A bittersweet day," Busch said as he left the stage.

Gail Appleson, Greg Jonsson and Jim Gallagher of the Post-Dispatch contributed to this report.

A Look at Anheiser-Busch and Inbev

2008-11-13T13:43:00.000-06:00

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ST. LOUIS (AP) -- Anheuser-Busch's shareholders approved the sale of the company to Belgium-based InBev on Wednesday. Here's a look at the $52 billion deal:

Anheuser-Busch InBev will be the world's largest brewery, producing an estimated 460 million hectoliters of beer annually.

InBev's strategy is to increase sales of Budweiser and Bud Light in overseas markets where the beers are currently niche products.

InBev CEO Carlos Brito, who will head the new company, has said Budweiser will become a global product along the lines of Coca-Cola or Pepsi.

While Anheuser-Busch spends hundreds of millions of dollars annually in marketing, the company has focused mostly on its U.S. customers.

Shareholders Approve Selling "Budweiser" To Belgian Firm

2008-11-13T13:42:00.001-06:00

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St. Louis, MO (AHN) - Anheuser-Busch announced Wednesday it received majority vote from shareholders approving its merger with foreign rival InBev. The deal will create the world's largest beer company.

InBev is paying $52 billion for Anheuser. The deal works out to roughly $70 a share. Anheuser shareholders will receive a cash payment in that amount for each share they own.

Approval from Anheuser shareholders was the last major hurdle the deal faced. InBev shareholders had approved the deal back in September. The companies expect the deal to close by the end of the year.

Anheuser originally resisted the unsolicited offer from InBev, but ultimately realized with a weakening consumer environment, the deal was too good to pass up.

"Every alternative was considered," said President and CEO August A. Busch IV, according to the Associated Press. "In the end, we all agreed the InBev proposal was in the best interest of you, the shareholders."

August A. Busch is set to serve on the board of directors for the combined company. However, he will no longer hold an executive role.

The deal gives Anheuser's Budweiser brand the opportunity to become a global market leader, a feat the company had not been able to accomplish on its own.

Although the deal received majority approval, many shareholders at the meeting were distraught such a great American company would become controlled by a foreign corporation.

St. Louisans sad over Anheuser-Busch sale

2008-11-13T13:41:00.001-06:00

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ST. LOUIS -- St. Louisans say they feel the city has lost part of its identity with the sale of Anheuser-Busch Cos. Inc. to Belgium-based InBev SA.

Becky O'Brien of suburban St. Louis was at Tucker's Place restaurant just down the street from the brewery, hours after the sale was finalized Wednesday.

She said people identify Anheuser-Busch, the Gateway Arch and Busch Stadium with St. Louis.

She said having Anheuser-Busch under foreign ownership felt like a loss for one of the city's icons. The brewery will keep its North American headquarters in the city.

A St. Louis resident, Jim Chamberlain, says he hopes InBev's ownership will increase Anheuser-Busch's global presence.

Anheuser-Busch Shareholders Approve InBev Takeover

2008-11-13T13:40:00.002-06:00

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Nov. 12 (Bloomberg) -- Anheuser-Busch Cos. shareholders approved InBev NV's $52 billion takeover offer, agreeing to create the world's largest brewer and hand over its controlling share of the U.S. beer market to the Belgian company.

Investors, who met today in Secaucus, New Jersey, voted 96 percent of the shares cast in favor of selling the St. Louis- based brewer for $70 each. Holders of Leuven, Belgium-based InBev agreed to the purchase on Sept. 29. The combination will put InBev's Beck's lager and Leffe Belgian ales together with Anheuser-Busch's Bud Light, Budweiser and Michelob brands.

``This is the right thing for the company and the shareholders,'' Bill Schlosky of New Jersey, who holds Anheuser-Busch shares and attended the meeting, said today. ``This is how capitalism should work.''

Today's vote clears another hurdle for the brewers to complete the deal by the end of the year even as tightening credit markets threaten InBev's $45 billion in loans to purchase the 156-year-old beer company. Antitrust regulators in the U.S., U.K. and China still must approve the deal, InBev Chief Executive Officer Carlos Brito said Nov. 6.

The merger ensures ``a promising future'' and fulfills the ``global ambitions of the family,'' Anheuser-Busch Chief Executive Officer August A. Busch IV said during the meeting. The Busch family has controlled the company for five generations

Busch said earlier this year that the company wouldn't be sold ``under my watch'' after speculation InBev might try to buy the U.S. brewer. Anheuser-Busch spurned InBev's original $46.3 billion proposal on June 26 as ``financially inadequate,'' while keeping the door open for a higher offer from InBev or another suitor. The companies signed an agreement July 14.

Biggest Brewer

Investors have increasingly bet the purchase will take place after pushing Anheuser-Busch shares down to close at $56.93 on Oct. 24, 19 percent less than the offer price.

Anheuser-Busch fell 51 cents to $66.33 at 4:15 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. InBev fell 1.66 euros, or 5.3 percent, to 29.41 euros in Brussels trading.

InBev, already the world's largest brewer by sales, will become the biggest by amount of beer sold as well. The combined company, to be called Anheuser-Busch InBev, will exceed $36 billion in annual revenue, 85 percent more than InBev's 2007 sales. Anheuser-Busch controls about 50 percent of the U.S. beer market, according to data from Euromonitor International.

InBev NV has commitments from 19 lenders to provide financing for its purchase. The brewer postponed a $9.8 billion stock sale aimed at paying off merger debt, it said Oct. 14. The company will wait for markets to stabilize, it said.

The U.S. Department of Justice's antitrust review of the acquisition may be completed by the end of the month, Anheuser- Busch Chief Financial Officer Randy Baker said Nov. 6.

After the meeting, Busch declined to say whether the merger might close this month and reiterated that it may be completed by the end of the year.

To contact the reporter on this story: Duane D. Stanford in Atlanta dstanford2@bloomberg.net.

Anheuser Holders Approve InBev's $52 Billion Takeover

2008-11-13T13:40:00.001-06:00

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Anheuser-Busch Cos. shareholders backed the brewer's $52 billion takeover by InBev SA, paving the way for the iconic U.S. company to be placed into the hands of the Belgian-Brazilian giant by the end of the year.

The deal now awaits approval from antitrust authorities in the U.S., U.K. and China.The transaction, approved by InBev shareholders in September, would create the world's largest beer maker, with about 300 brands -- including Anheuser's Budweiser and InBev's Beck's -- and annual net sales of about $36 billion. The new company, to be called Anheuser-Busch InBev, would be followed in size by London-based SABMiller PLC.

Anheuser and its predecessor companies have been led by members of the Anheuser or Busch families for most of the operation's 156-year history.

Supporting the proposed combination "was a difficult decision for our board to make," said Chief Executive August A. Busch IV, who will be a director of the merged company. "In the end, the board determined that the InBev proposal is in the best interest of our shareholders."

Anheuser-Busch shareholders approve sale to InBev

2008-11-13T13:39:00.001-06:00

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SECAUCUS, N.J. (AP) — Shareholders of Anheuser-Busch Cos. Inc. have approved the sale of the nation's largest brewer to Belgium-based InBev SA.

The vote Wednesday is the latest step necessary to close the $52 billion deal reached in July.

The deal — which will create the world's largest brewer, to be called Anheuser-Busch InBev — is expected to close by the end of the year.

Once the deal is final, InBev's North American operations will be based in St. Louis, where Anheuser-Busch was founded more than 150 years ago.

The maker of Bud Light and Budweiser said this summer it was accepting a buyout from InBev worth $70 a share.

Shareholders of InBev, known for brands like Stella Artois and Beck's, approved the deal in September.

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/Marin-Institute-Opposes-InBev-Takeover/story.aspx?guid=%7B424967B4-4FA8-4A5E-A3B6-E4FC91CEBA39%7D

2008-11-13T13:38:00.000-06:00

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Shareholders of Anheuser-Busch Cos. Inc. will vote on the sale of the brewing giant to Belgian brewer InBev Wednesday afternoon.

Once the deal closes - which should happen by the end of the year - it will create the world's largest brewer.

The vote for shareholders of the St. Louis-based company will come at a meeting starting at noon in Secaucus, N.J., just outside of New York.

The maker of Bud Light and Budweiser announced in July it was accepting a buyout from InBev worth $52 billion, or $70 a share.

Shareholders of InBev, known for brands like Stella Artois and Beck's, have already approved the deal.

Anheuser-Busch (nyse: BUD - news - people ) has about half of the U.S. market, and InBev just a small fraction. InBev has said it plans to make top-selling Budweiser and Bud Light into worldwide icons like Coca-Cola (nyse: KO - news - people ) and Pepsi (nyse: PEP - news - people ).

Both sides say it is on track to close on time, by the end of the year.
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InBev has said it will not reduce or change its $70-per-share offer, even though Anheuser-Busch's share price has dropped amid larger market turmoil.

Marin Institute Opposes InBev Takeover of Anheuser-Busch

2008-11-13T13:35:00.000-06:00

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SAN RAFAEL, Calif., Nov 12, 2008 /PRNewswire-USNewswire via COMTEX/ -- Attends Shareholder Meeting in New Jersey

In Secaucus New Jersey today, Marin Institute attended what may well be the last ever Anheuser-Busch (A-B) shareholder meeting held on U.S. soil. Charisse Ma Lebron, Corporate Responsibility & Advocacy Manager at Marin Institute, represented the organization's opposition to the sale of A-B to Belgium-based InBev Corporation.
"It's just not a good deal," stated Ms. Lebron. "A-B leadership has compromised the financial security of its employees and their respective communities that depend upon the company's economic contribution."

Though the takeover includes a tentative "good faith commitment" that InBev will not close any of A-B's current 12 U.S. breweries, there are loopholes. For example, increased federal or state beer taxes or "unforeseen extraordinary events" that negatively impact business could allow InBev to renege on that promise, leaving A-B's breweries and their tens of thousands of employees vulnerable to closures.

"Federal and state beer taxes will have to be increased, given the global economic downturn, gaping budget deficits, and the urgency to reduce underage drinking," Lebron said. "It's not a matter of if, but when taxes will be increased, and when they are, InBev will close breweries and cut costs without mercy." Just this week, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger proposed increasing state taxes on all alcohol.

InBev has earned an international reputation as an unscrupulous company, instituting cost-cutting measures whenever it sees fit. Also, while the new entity, Anheuser-Busch/InBev, will have a U.S. headquarters office in St, Louis, MO, the parent corporation is located offshore, raising questions about corporate accountability to lawmakers, regulators, and especially local communities.

For additional information, or to comment on this news, visit the blog at www.marininstitute.org

AB Shareholders To Vote On InBev Deal

2008-11-13T13:34:00.000-06:00

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KTVI - myFOXstl.com) --

Wednesday morning, Anheuser-Busch could cease to exist as an independent company. That's when A-B shareholders vote in New Jersey on selling the St. Louis-based brewery to InBev, the global brewing conglomerate. But given the market meltdown, will the deal still go through?

Shareholders are expected to approve the sale to InBev overwhelmingly. And while the road to the sale is wide open there are some major potholes ahead.

For one thing, the deal was approved at $70 a share cash. Some European financial publications have speculated that InBev might offer a combination of cash and stock but that would kill the deal since the agreement was cash only.

InBev has not yet been able to float all of the $45 billion in international bank loans it needs to pay for the deal. For another, InBev’s stock price is down more than one-third since September.

Betting On Buffett

2008-11-13T13:33:00.000-06:00

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History shows that parroting the stock picks of Warren Buffett can be a profitable strategy.

Within a few weeks, Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway will make its first 13-F filings for the September quarter, but we have provided a look at his portfolio, based on Berkshire's most recent regulatory filings (Form 13-F) for the quarter ended June 30, 2008.

Berkshire is only required to reveal investments listed on U.S. exchanges. For example, it does not routinely disclose information in its 13-F filings about its stake in Posco (nyse: PKX - news - people ), a South Korean steelmaker, or Tesco (nasdaq: TESO - news - people ), a British supermarket. In addition, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission often allows Berkshire to file confidentially on certain holdings to thwart copycat investing.
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It is certainly worth keeping an eye on Buffett's moves. Even with the delay in filings, mimicking Berkshire's buys has generated annual returns of 25%, double the return of the S&P 500, according to a 2007 study of Berkshire's purchases from 1976 to 2006 by Gerald Martin, a finance professor at American University, and John Puthenpurackal, a professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

9:50 a.m. New Hampshire AB brewery, others to remain open

2008-11-13T13:32:00.000-06:00

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MERRIMACK, N.H. (AP) — Anheuser-Busch has signed an agreement that will keep its Merrimack, N.H., brewery open for the next five years.

In the first union contract signed since the St. Louis company was sold to a Belgian brewer, InBev, Anheuser-Busch agreed to keep all 12 U.S. breweries open until 2014. The contract includes wage increases for most of the 500 workers at the Merrimack plant.

The agreement comes after speculation that the new owners, known for cost-cutting measures, would close the plant.

The Merrimack Anheuser-Busch brewery was sold as part of a $52 billion deal made with InBev in July.

Anheuser-Busch settles shareholder suits over sale

2008-11-13T13:30:00.000-06:00

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ST. LOUIS (AP) — Anheuser-Busch Cos. Inc. said Friday it has settled all lawsuits filed by shareholders related to the company's pending sale to InBev SA.

The St. Louis-based brewer said in a statement that the settlement was subject to approval by the Delaware Court of Chancery.

The news comes as the company's shareholders are set to vote next Wednesday on the $52 billion sale to Belgian brewer InBev.

According to court filings in Delaware, the company was settling cases filed there and in state and federal court in Missouri. As part of the settlement, Anheuser-Busch said it will include additional disclosures in its proxy statement.

The suits had alleged, among other things, that the company and its board of directors breached their fiduciary duties by failing to maximize shareholder value, including not giving adequate consideration to the InBev deal.

Some of the cases were filed before Anheuser-Busch announced it had accepted the $70-a-share offer from InBev on July 14. InBev had announced its intent to try and purchase Anheuser-Busch a month earlier, and the two sides went back and forth before the sale announcement.

Other suits filed after the announcement accused the company of breaching its fiduciary duties by agreeing to the sale by an unfair process and for an unfair price.

The deal will create the world's largest brewer, combining Anheuser-Busch's brands like Budweiser and Bud Light with InBev's brands like Stella Artois and Beck's.

InBev's shareholders have already approved the sale. Both sides said this week they expected it to close on time, by the end of the year. InBev has said it will not reduce or change its $70-a-share offer, even though Anheuser-Busch's share price has dropped amid larger market turmoil.

Anheuser-Busch's shares rose $1.11, or 1.7 percent, to $65.69 in Friday trading.