News & Politics - Budweiser sold to Belgian company

**sunnykerr** · 07-14-2008, 03:40 PM

(CNN) -- Philip McClary was grilling out at his home in suburban St. Louis, Missouri, on Sunday night when he heard hometown brewer Anheuser-Busch would be bought by the Belgian company InBev.

The deal would create the world's largest brewer and put the U.S. beer maker in the hands of Belgian-based InBev.

"I was actually drinking a Bud Light when I heard, and I couldn't even finish it. That's the honest-to-God truth," he said Monday.

"I was proud to drink Budweiser, not any more," said P.J. Champion, a student at the University of Mississippi who said the brew is "a great piece of American history."

McClary put Champion's thoughts to music, posting his song "Kiss Our Glass" on YouTube and on a Web site that tried to stop the sale, SaveBudweiser.com. Watch McClary sing 'Kiss our Glass' »

"America is not for sale, and neither is her beer," McClary sings.

"All you hard-working Americans stand up and show some class," the song continues, "Have a drink with Mother Freedom, and tell InBev to kiss your glass."

Such outrage is to be expected, says Matt Simpson, who bills himself as The Beer Sommelier and teaches Beer Education 101 at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. But he said the protests will soon fade.

"Unless it affects [Americans] in the product or the pocketbook, they're likely to forget about it," Simpson says. And he doesn't think InBev will change its iconic product.

"You don't mess with a good thing," he says. "It really isn't about nationalism, it's about money."

"I think there will be somewhat of a backlash; I would anticipate initially that people will be furious and stop drinking it. Maybe after six months, though, they'll switch back."

Simpson says that if American beer drinkers turn away from Budweiser and other Anheuser-Busch brands, it will be because they are turning to microbrews.

"They are heading the pack in popularity and business success these days," he says of the small breweries. "Today, taste is king. You really don't get from the macro beer producers." See other American icons owned by foreign companies »

But he doesn't expect Budweiser to go away, either.

"There's nothing inherently wrong with the taste of Budweiser. It's a light American lager. There will always be some sort of market for that," he says.

For McClary, taste was never an issue. "I've drank tons of different beers, different brands; but Bud Light has always been the one to me that was the easiest to go down and had the smoothest taste."

But he says he's quaffed his last Bud Light, and the issue is larger than beer.

"We've kind of lost a part of our history here and all across the United States," he said.

InBev says it won't be changing Budweiser or Bud Light, which it says are the best-selling beers in the world.

"Budweiser will be brewed in the same breweries ... by the same people, according to the same recipe," said Carlos Brito, InBev's chief executive officer.

But iReporter Adam Williams, who lives across the street from Anheuser-Busch's St. Louis brewery, doesn't share that feeling of a continued tradition.

Things will change, Williams says, right down to the company's mascot Dalmatians that have been a constant commotion in the neighborhood.

"I will miss the nuisance that ... the Budweiser Dalmatians have meant around our neighborhood," he writes. "They may still exist over there for some time to come, but their kingdom's significance has severely diminished.

"What is the mascot of InBev, anyway?"

I have to say that I feel your pain, America. When Labatt was sold to InBev, it felt like Canada was a little less Canadian. And when Moslon was sold to FEMSA... it hurt.

It's a sign of the times, I guess.

***Jerry D*** · 07-14-2008, 06:46 PM

This news really surprised me, but like you said Sunny, it's a sign of the times.

**sunnykerr** · 07-14-2008, 08:10 PM

Seriously. I know the stereotype is that all Canadians are hockey-crazy. And I don't think that's entirely accurate, but I do know that hockey in Montreal (where I'm from) is probably the biggest religion (not to be blasphemous, or anything).

We have the league's most successful franchise by a mile, and our streets and parks are littered with the names of famous players. We all know the stories even though we may not even have been alive at the time. And when it stopped being Molson's Saturday Night Hockey... (because, you know, there are government regulations about Canadian ownership and Canadian representation, and I'm not sure I understand it all, but all I know is it happened at the same time)... I swear, the whole province went into mourning. Never mind the city.

**vc318** · 07-19-2008, 10:11 PM

We're sure to see their prices go up now.

aerisVII · 07-22-2008, 11:56 AM

i heard that it is all an evil plan to monopolize american beer. dont be suprised if they try to buy miller as well

**sunnykerr** · 07-22-2008, 06:43 PM

I wasn't aware that there was an evil plan to take over beer...

Do tell.

**vc318** · 07-22-2008, 08:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sunnykerr (View Post)

I wasn't aware that there was an evil plan to take over beer...

Do tell.

Well, with everything else going down in America, why not buy out the few last things we have, right? Many foreign countries are reaping on the hardship that the country is going through right now. I really wouldn't be surprise if Miller is next.

aerisVII · 07-23-2008, 07:34 AM

stock in beer and alcohol are one of the few things that go up when the rest of the stock market go down, everyone just wants more money

**sunnykerr** · 07-24-2008, 06:10 AM

Ah, see, I learned something. I didn't know beer and alcohol stock were the only stock to go up all the time, regardless of market fluctuations.

I guess the free market doesn't always work, huh?

**vc318** · 07-24-2008, 10:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by aerisVII (View Post)

stock in beer and alcohol are one of the few things that go up when the rest of the stock market go down, everyone just wants more money

Yep, that's been the growing trend for the past few years, I think. Any chance you can take to make money.

**sunnykerr** · 07-24-2008, 11:14 AM

Well, not that I think it's a good thing or anything, but it is what corporations do. Pretty much all of our huge Canadian brands are now owned by foreigners (mostly Americans).

It sucks... but it is a sign of the times.

Avatar · 07-24-2008, 02:02 PM

Budweiser is Czech anyway, so I don't see the problem.

**vc318** · 07-29-2008, 09:29 PM

This is obviously not a problem for Cindy McCain either:

Beer buyout a hiccup for McCain? - 07/29/2008 - MiamiHerald.com

Beer buyout a hiccup for McCain?
Posted on Tue, Jul. 29, 2008
BY LESLEY CLARK

WASHINGTON --
The pending merger of American beer giant Anheuser-Busch and a Belgian company that brews and sells beer in Cuba is thrusting John McCain into the middle of thorny Cuba-U.S. relations.

McCain's wife, Cindy, owns the third-largest Anheuser-Busch distributor in the country -- which means she would stand to profit by partnering with a company that is in business with the Cuban government.

McCain is a staunch advocate of the embargo that bars most American companies from doing business in Cuba, and among the yet-to-be-resolved issues in the $52 billion deal is whether Belgian giant InBev -- expected to operate under the name Anheuser-Busch-InBev -- will continue to market its Cuban line of beer, and what that may mean for U.S. distributors.

Two of McCain's top Florida supporters, Miami Reps. Lincoln and Mario Diaz-Balart, assailed the InBev-Anheuser Busch deal earlier this month, saying they are ''deeply concerned'' that Anheuser-Busch is about to be purchased by a company ``with ties to the Cuban dictatorship, a state sponsor of terrorism.''

A spokesman for the Diaz-Balarts said Tuesday night the two congressmen stand by their statement.

Complicating matters for McCain: A Cuban exile family with a long tradition of brewing beer in pre-Castro Cuba claims that InBev has illegally been using the trademark beer name Cristal, which the family created in Cuba before its company was seized by Fidel Castro's government in 1960.

''There are legal fig leafs that can be applied here, but the crux of the situation is that property rights are being trampled on,'' said Nicolás Gutiérrez, an attorney for Key Biscayne's Blanco Herrera family.

According to financial disclosure statements, Cindy McCain also owns stock in Anheuser-Busch and would stand to make as much as $2 million in profit if she sells the shares after the merger.

PRIVATE COMPANY

McCain's campaign did not respond to questions about whether Cindy McCain's distributorship in Arizona, Hensley and Co., would continue to market InBev products after the merger goes through. The private company, with annual sales estimated at between $150 million and $200 million, already distributes InBev products, including Stella Artois, Beck's and Lowenbrau.

A longtime McCain supporter said the Arizona senator has maintained a rigid firewall between himself and his wife's business operations, and new owners won't change matters.

''Making a connection between InBev, John McCain and Cuba policy is a ridiculous stretch of the imagination,'' said Ana Navarro of Miami, who has known McCain for years and serves as a co-chairwoman of his National Hispanic Advisory Council. ``First because John McCain has nothing to do with the operation of his wife's business and secondly, her business has nothing to do with Anheuser-Busch's sale. Does Publix control the decisions of Frito-Lay?''

InBev isn't saying whether or not it will keep what it calls its ''modest'' Cuban interests.

European countries have no hurdles to doing business in Cuba, and a spokeswoman for InBev said the company ''continuously reviews'' its commercial activities to ensure compliance with international laws.

Marianne Amssoms, InBev's vice president of global external communications, said the company's Cuban interests are all handled out of Europe. She did not address the Blanco Herrera claim but said the company's Cuban interests ''do not violate U.S., EU or international law.'' She said the company -- which holds the No. 2 position in the Cuban beer market -- currently brews, distributes and sells Beck's, Bucanero, Cristal and Mayabe in Cuba through a joint venture with the Cuban food ministry.

GLOBAL BUSINESS

She said the business in Cuba is less than 0.5 percent of InBev's global business. According to the company's website, its plant in Holguin, in eastern Cuba, employs 570 full-time workers.

A spokesman with the U.S. Treasury Department -- which along with the State Department oversees provisions of the embargo -- said the agency could not yet comment on whether the embargo would be applied or how the new company would be affected by the embargo law.

Gutiérrez said he hopes the renewed attention on InBev will result in a resolution for the Blanco Herrera family, which approached InBev in 2001 about the use of the Cristal brand to no avail.

'All of this could have a resolution if McCain were to come out and say, `I'm not getting involved in the corporate dealings, but I denounce InBev operations in Cuba and I denounce especially the use of confiscated property,' '' Gutiérrez said.

Ramon Blanco Herrera, whose relatives opened the brewery in Cuba in 1888, said the family members are seeking ''respect'' for their property claims.

''It's one thing for a communist Cuban government to traffic with stolen property,'' he said in a written statement. ``It's another issue altogether when a respected multinational corporation like InBev knowingly traffics with our property without our consent or authorization.''

LITTLE FALLOUT?

He said he doesn't believe the situation creates an issue for McCain.

''We expect that either candidate will uphold the rule of law as it relates to our Helms-Burton claims,'' he said. The Helms-Burton law seeks to punish foreign companies that use property in Cuba expropriated from Cuban nationals who have since become U.S. citizens.

''InBev needs to address this issue with us, as well as the corresponding U.S. authorities that have direct responsibility for approving the AB takeover,'' Blanco Herrera wrote. ``We intend to make sure that all U.S. authorities are aware of the issue and expect that they will persuade InBev to respond.''

aerisVII · 07-30-2008, 10:59 AM

Thats a new twist. Please just don't take my bud away.

**sunnykerr** · 07-30-2008, 05:39 PM

I almost hate to agree with a Republican, just on principle, you know?

But, yeah, that's a ridiculous stretch of the ramifications.