Anheuser receives takeover bid

• IBTimes RSS
• Print
• E-Mail
• digg
• Del.icio.us

InBev, whose brands include Stella Artois and Beck's, said on Wednesday it is offering $65 per share for Anheuser, which dominates the U.S. beer market with a 48.5 percent share.

The offer represents a 24 percent premium to Anheuser's share price on May 22 - the day before reports of merger talks surfaced and drove Anheuser's shares higher.

The maker of Budweiser and Michelob, which counts Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway as its second-largest shareholder with a 5 percent stake, saw its shares jump more than 7 percent to $62.73 after-hours on Wednesday, after closing at $58.35 on the New York Stock Exchange.

St. Louis-based Anheuser said its board of directors "will evaluate the proposal carefully and in the context of all relevant factors, including Anheuser-Busch's long-term strategic plan," and make a determination regarding the proposal "in due course."

The two brewers already have a deal whereby Anheuser distributes InBev beers in the United States.

Industry experts see InBev's offer as the opening step in what is likely to become a series of negotiations that could drive the final deal price close to or above $70 per share.

For most of the last century and a half, Anheuser-Busch has been led by members of the Busch family, who for the most part are believed to be against a takeover.

Though the family's ownership of the company has dwindled to the point where it could not veto a takeover, its influence over the 14-member board of directors is said to be strong.

Anheuser cannot rely on a staggered board of directors, a poison pill, or a blockage by anti-trust authorities, said Tom Pirko, president of beverage industry advising firm Bevmark. As a result, he expects Anheuser to be forced to negotiate as high a price as it can.

• 1
• 2
• 3