In today's posting, Sarah Nunnally, Editor of Taipan Trader, takes on your faithful editor Irwin Greenstein for his rant in the July 2nd issue about InBev's move on Anheuser Bush. Feel free to ad your comments about the acquisition of a great American brand by a Belgian company.
Done is done, Irwin... No use crying over spilled beer.
Anheuser-Busch (BUD:NYSE) has agreed to the takeover terms by InBev SA (INBVF:PINK)
The deal is worth $52 billion. That's a steal, if you ask me. Thanks to the dollar's fresh demise (new lows against the euro), InBev is spending only 32.5 billion euros. A year ago that price tag would have been 37.7 billion euros, and that's the main reason why InBev can afford to buy BUD now.
Politicians are pouting and throwing tantrums of course, but InBev is not going to let America's beloved brew go down the tubes. Rather, they're going to try and sell more Stella. But here's why I think InBev was so keen on picking up a six-pack of BUD: a 27% stake in Tsingtao.
One word, three sylables, five rings: Olympics.
And who are the three official beer sponsors for the Beijing Olympics? BUD, Tsingtao, and Beijing Yanjing Brewery.
With this takeover, InBev leapfrogs itself to the top position of the largest brewer in China.
By the way, BUD also has a 50% stake in Grupo Modelo, makers of Corona and Modelo beers, and was just about to close on a deal to buy the remaining 50% of the brewery when InBev first initiated its hostile takeover. InBev has already made inroads in Latin American markets, but the Grupo Modelo snag certainly makes up a big part of those synergies the suits have been talking about.
So what's the deal with BUD's share price? With a takeover bid with a $4 share price premium, BUD stock should be on cloud nine. BUD was scorching hot right after the announcement of a possible takeover, but now seems to be topping out. To be honest, it never reached the frenzy most premium takeovers have. Not once has it breached the $70 mark, the price per share that InBev offered.
If you ask me, BUD is in for a short-term drop while the details of this acquisition are hammered out.
