Alcohol and Drugs History Society

Mexico's Modelo challenges InBev takeover of Anheuser-Busch

Mexico's Modelo argues that its partnership with Anheuser-Busch allows it to block the InBev takeover of the St. Louis-based company. (A-B owns half of Modelo's shares.) Many observers believe that Modelo really hopes to negotiate to improve its autonomy after the Brazilian-Belgian InBev acquires Anheuser-Busch. For details, see the Wall Street Journal story here.

Drinking beer in Bruges

Rick Steves discusses drinking a rich variety of beers in the Belgian city of Bruges, only one of which (Zot or the fool) is actually brewed in the city. He did his drinking at 't Brugs Beertje which offers more than 300 Belgian beers. For details about Belgian beers, see here. It was not clear from the article whether Steves sampled any InBev brews. Probably he did, but his focus was on more distinctive and offbeat beers peculiar to the local market.

This Bud is for ... EU (says the Drudge Report)

The Anheuser Busch board is expected to vote on Sunday night (13 July 2008) to accept InBev's take over bid. For details, see here.

Anheuser-Busch moves toward acceptance of InBev take over bid

After InBev increased its financial offer, Anheuser-Busch appears to accept the take over by the Belgium based (and largely Brazilian-run) company. For details, see here.

Anheuser-Busch suit against InBev includes reference to Cuban embargo

In a law suit against its unwanted suitor the Belgian-Brazilian firm InBev, Anheuser-Busch pointed out that InBev violated the American embargo against Cuba. For more, see here.

InBev proposes to replace entire Anheuser-Busch board

To put pressure on the existing board, InBev has proposed replacing the entire Anheuser-Busch board. A Missouri senator has pledged to stop the foreign take-over of the iconic St. Louis brewer. For more, see here.

Putting the InBev bid for Anheuser-Busch into historical perspective

Writing in the Washington Post, historian Maureen Ogle puts the bid by Belgium-based InBev to take over USA-based Anheuser-Busch into historical perspective here.

InBev history created by a Belgian-Brazilian merger in 2004

InBev was created in 2004 by a merger of Belgian-based Interbrew (itself the product of twenty years of mergers) and Brazilian-based AmBev. Although the company sells over 200 brands, it is not as identified with any of them in the way that Anheuser-Busch (InBev's latest take-over target) is identified with Budweiser. The Washington Post likes one of InBev's smaller distinctive Belgian brands, Hoegaarden Witbier. InBev has a reputation for hard-headed cost-cutting after mergers and take-overs. For more, see here.

InBev history since 1988

InBev history can be dated from a defensive merger between two Belgian breweries in 1988. If its bid for Anheuser-Busch succeeds, it will become the world's largest brewery company. For more, see here.

Anheuser-Busch acknowledges $46 billion InBev take-over bid

After weeks of rumors, Belgium-based InBev has made a formal bid to take over American-based Anheuser-Busch at a price of over $46 billions. For more, see here. InBev is the world's second-largest brewing company while Anheuser-Busch is the world's third-largest. By volume, the largest brewer is SABMiller.