Guide Note

Belgian beer brewer InBev offered $46 billion in an unsolicited bid for the Anheuser-Busch Brewing Company, the St. Louis-based maker and distributor of Budweiser. On July 13, 2008, Anheuser-Busch agreed to accept $52 billion, after declining the first offer. The new company will be called Anheuser-Busch InBev and will be the world's largest beer making company.¹

Fast Facts

1. Year Anheuser-Busch founded: 1852
2. Anheuser-Busch headquarters: St. Louis, Missouri
3. Anheuser-Busch brands: Budweiser, Michelob, Rolling Rock Natural Light
4. Year InBev founded: 2004
5. InBev headquarters: Leuven, Belgium
6. InBev brands: Becks, Bass, Stella Artois
7. Amount of offer: $46 billion²
8. Amount of offer per share: $65 ²
9. InBev bought Anheuser-Bush for $52 billion on July 13, 2008¹

InBev, the second largest beer maker in the world, made the $46 billion unsolicited bid on June 11, 2008. The bid was not entirely unexpected, as Anheuser Busch, the fourth largest beer maker in the world, had been experiencing stagnant growth and the Wall Street Journal had detailed in 2007 how such a deal could save the combined company $300 to $400 million per year.³ InBev was formed in 2004 from the merger of Belgium's Interbrew and the Brazilian-based beer maker AmBev. Some politicians are afraid that the offer, should it be accepted, would result in the loss of jobs in the United States.²