The deed is all but done, Budweiser is now Belgian, at least when it’s not Czech. I guess in international business - as in all business - it’s money which does the talking in the end.

Anheuser-Busch, one of the largest beer brewing companies in the world, has been under pressure for a number of years and they are now faced with a take-over bid from InBev. (Given the poor taste of their main product, Budweiser, its amazing to me they didn’t bite the bullet years ago.)

A “Classic Tale” of international mergers & acquisitions: huge American brand falls on hard times and becomes victim to a global company not based in the US. You can hear the cries of the Nascar fans already: Keep our Bud American!

According to the International Herald Tribune (IHT) however, the bad guys are not M&A managers at InBev (the brewery conglomerate based in Belgium and Brazil) but the Busch family themselves, in particular the 44-year old CEO August Anheuser Busch 4th, known simply as “The Fouth”. With a reputation as a party-boy and a number of scandals in his past, The Fourth took the reins 19 months ago. Not that his father had done a better job leading the company: while the competition was thriving and going global, Anheuser-Busch has been struggling for 10 years.

In an article this week, the IHT argues that Anheuser-Busch should negotiate with InBev. They really don’t have a choice. Unless you think collecting 50,000 signatures at a website called saveab.com can help a company’s bottom-line and share price.

Which side are you on - should Bud stay all-American or join a global business?

Reference: IHT articles about Anheuser-Busch and InBev.

Image from richmondhill-ga.gov