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Anheuser, InBev Said Near Merger Talks


Reuters
Posted: 2008-05-27 09:54:35
BRUSSELS (May 27) - Belgian brewer InBev, the world's second-biggest by volume, could start talks with rival Anheuser Busch on a possible bid as early as Tuesday, Belgian business daily De Tijd reported.







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InBev, created by the merger of Interbrew and AmBev -- is expected to bid for Budweiser brewer Anheuser-Busch of St. Louis. A deal would create one of the largest consumer products groups in the world.





The paper said the company's board of directors was about to decide whether to allow its advisers to start negotiating with Anheuser but did not disclose its sources.

An InBev spokeswoman declined to comment on the report and said it was not the company's policy to divulge when board meetings took place.

The Financial Times reported last Friday that InBev was considering a $65-a-share bid but while extensive work was being carried out InBev was "not about to push the button."

A source close to the situation confirmed to Reuters later on Friday that a bid was being prepared.

The FT report said a financing package of $50 billion had been provisionally arranged through JPMorgan and Santander and that the Belgian company had not excluded a hostile bid.

At 0725 GMT InBev shares were down 1.25 percent at 47.30 euros.


Talk of a possible bid by InBev -- brewer of Stella Artois, Beck's and Brahma -- for the U.S. maker of Budweiser and Michelob heated up in the past weeks after surfacing several times before.

A Busch family member, Adolphus Busch IV, told the Wall Street Journal on Tuesday some family members were open to holding talks with InBev but others wanted to keep the status-quo.

InBev, formed from the 2004 merger of Belgium's Interbrew with Brazil's AmBev, has a fraction of the U.S. market but very mature businesses in western Europe.

It is also present in growth markets in eastern Europe, Asia and Latin America, notably in the key market of Brazil.

Anheuser dominates the United States and also has an equity stake in China's Tsingtao.

But it has struggled recently as U.S. consumers abandon domestic beer for wine, spirits, foreign beers or small-batch craft brews.

The beer industry is experiencing a wave of consolidation, with SABMiller Plc and Molson Coors Brewing Co aiming to combine their U.S. units and Scottish & Newcastle agreeing to be broken up by Carlsberg A/S and Heineken NV.

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