Bottoms Up

It’s all over. Anheuser-Busch shareholders today approved purchase of  A-B InBev, the Belgian-Brazilian brewery conglomerate.  The St. Louis Business Journal has the story:

• Anheuser-Busch Cos. Inc. shareholders approved the company’s sale to Belgian-based InBev for $52 billion, or $70 a share, today at a special meeting held outside New York City.

• InBev shareholders previously voted in favor of the deal Sept. 29. InBev plans to complete the purchase by the end of the year. Depending on the timing of final regulatory approvals, the sale could close as early as the end of this month.

• The deal will end the Anheuser-Busch’s 156-year history of independence and merge America’s largest brewer into the world’s largest beer company. The combined company will be called Anheuser-Busch InBev and have annual revenue of $36.4 billion. Its headquarters will be in Leuven, Belgium, though St. Louis will remain the company’s North American headquarters and home to the flagship Budweiser brand.

• “The proposed merger between Anheuser-Busch and InBev under consideration today was a difficult decision for our board to make,” said August Busch IV, president and chief executive, according to a brewery statement of comments made during the meeting. “In the end, the board determined that the InBev proposal is in the best interest of our shareholders. The merger also provides a promising future for our beer brands and for all stakeholders — employees, wholesalers, retailers and our consumers. READ THE WHOLE STORY…