Bankers on tap for $50 billion buyout of Anheuser-Busch

Posted Jun 2nd 2008 8:30AM by Tom Taulli
Filed under: Citigroup Inc. (C), JPMorgan Chase (JPM), Anheuser-Busch InBev (BUD), Merrill Lynch (MER), Goldman Sachs Group (GS)

Perhaps the credit crunch is showing some improvement? For example, according to a report in the Telegraph, it looks like InBev – the world's no. 2 beer company -- is close to getting $50 billion in financing for a bid for Anheuser-Busch Cos Inc. (NYSE: BUD). Some of the banks include JP Morgan (NYSE: JPM), Santander, BNP Paribas and Merrill Lynch (NYSE: MER).

But isn't the Busch family resistant to a bid? In theory, that may be the case. However, it's hard to say "no" to a premium buyout deal. Besides, the beer industry is in the midst of a global consolidation trend. And, with Anheuser-Busch's relatively high cost structure and lackluster global strategy, the future does look murky.

In the meantime, Anheuser-Busch is preparing for a fight. That is, it appears that the firm is getting anti-takeover advice from Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) and Citi (NYSE: C).

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including The Complete M&A Handbook and The Edgar Online Guide to Decoding Financial Statements. He also operates MergerBook.com.

Tags: beer industry, beer sales, BeerIndustry, BeerSales, bud, Buyout, c, gs, InBev, jpm, mer