This Bud’s for EU
Anheuser-Busch, the largest brewing company in the US has agreed to sell itself to the Belgian brewer InBev (brewer of brands Leffe, Becks, Bass, Stella Artois, Brahma, Hoegaarden, & Staropramen) for about $52 billion, the two companies confirmed today [NY Times reporting], putting control of the nation’s largest beer maker (new name being announced as Anheuser-Busch InBev) and a fixture of American culture into a European rival’s hands. This merger will create the worlds largest brewer surpassing the current No. 1 brewer, SABMiller of London.
Since 1860, Anheuser has been controlled by members of the Anheuser or Busch families, which expanded the company from a small Midwestern brewer into a beer juggernaut. On the back of Budweiser, Anheuser steadily pushed aside competitors like Schlitz with a mix of brute force and marketing guile.
One of the company’s hallmarks is its omnipresent advertising. It is the biggest buyer of Super Bowl ads, according to TNS, a market research company, and last year, it spent about $24 million on those ads. Dozens of its commercials, like those featuring Clydesdales, Spuds MacKenzie and the “Wassup†guys, have been ingrained in pop culture. The company’s total ad spending last year in the United States was more than about $475 million.
Yet the domestic beer market has struggled recently as customers drifted toward wine and spirits, craft brews and imports. Though Anheuser holds significant stakes in Modelo and Tsingtao of China, the bulk of its sales come from the United States.
About 60,000 people signed a petition at savebudweiser.com to keep the brewer American which had some public business pushback early one, however, the deal looks to be unopposed in its current form.