Anheuser-Busch moves against deal
Anheuser-Busch is said to be planning the sale of its theme parks to raise $3 billion in an effort to ward off a takeover by InBev. But analysts predict InBev might respond with a higher shareholder bid. Stephen Beard reports.
A bottle of Budweiser beer at a bar in New York City. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
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Renita Jablonski: Anheuser-Busch is reportedly getting ready to throw back the $46 billion takeover bid from its Belgian rival InBev. The St. Louis-based company is expected to propose it's own restructuring plan as early as next week. Stephen Beard reports.
Stephen Beard: Anheuser-Busch is said to be planning the sale of its theme parks as a way of warding off the bid from InBev. That could raise $3 billion. The sale of its packaging business could raise a further $1.5 billion. Some of that money might then be paid out to its shareholders as a special dividend.
But drinks industry analyst Chris Brooke-Carter says the Anheuser board will have to do much better than that:
Chris Brooke-Carter: What they are really going to have to do -- and I think they will find it difficult -- is demonstrate that they can offer a better long-term solution to shareholder value than InBev are currently offering.
InBev says its offer values Anheuser-Busch at a 35 percent premium to what it was worth before rumors of the bid first surfaced. Many analysts expect that InBev will raise its bid from $65 to $70 a share. And that may clinch the deal.
In London, this is Stephen Beard for Marketplace.
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