And of course, some folks are up in arms. A-B is seen as an American icon. God only knows what kind of foul rhetoric they would be spouting if the offer were from a Chinese group. Still, the governor of Missouri has asked his state's Economic Development Department to find some way to keep A-B in American hands.
Nonetheless, InBev could be in unfriendly territory. "The heartland of America doesn't take to foreign ownership easily," says Scott Goodson, founder and chief executive of StrawberryFrog, a branding firm in New York that used to handle Heineken's (HEIN.AS) worldwide marketing strategy.
Beer and nationalism have collided before in America. During World War I, the government seized the assets of George Ehret, a German immigrant who was for a time the biggest brewer in the country. Ehret had sailed for Germany for a vacation and got stuck there when the war broke out. While in Germany, he was dogged by innuendo and had to reassure customers of his loyalty when he returned. "My sympathies are entirely with the U.S. in this war," Ehret told The New York Times.
More recently, when Miller Brewing became part of South African Breweries (SAB.L), few Americans raised concerns. Ditto for Wild Turkey bourbon, which was sold in 1980 to Pernod Ricard Group (PERP.PA), a French company. Indeed, if consumers balk at the idea of buying beer owned by a foreign company, they won't have many choices, at least among the major brewers. "If your whole thing is 'Buy American,' where are you going to go?" says Paul Worthington, head of strategy for Wolff Olins, a branding consultancy in London and New York.
Normally, I would say these folks should shut up and get on with their lives. Like it or not, we all compete in a global economy. Western companies hold far greater sway over the economies of Global South nations.
If all this shouting and screaming were over a Chinese oil company wanting to mine oil shale in Colorado, I would understand, since extractive industries have a particularly egregious record of exploitation and environmental destruction. However, although InBev has a reputation for being ruthless cost cutters, they would still have to comply with US labor laws. They've pledged not to close any of A-B's breweries. A-B would remain a US operation, although management might lose a lot of perks.
And frankly, the best thing that can be said about Budweiser is that it's cheap and contains some alcohol. There are many American microbreweries that make really good beer. Michigan residents interested in microbrewed beer might wish to start with Bells Beer, which is based in Kalamazoo. Their beer is also distributed in neighboring states.
However, culture is something that is fundamental to us. The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights recognizes the human right of all peoples to freely pursue their cultural development, because it is something inherent to human dignity.
Most Americans haven't realized how transnational corporations sometimes - or often - threaten the cultural development of the cultures they operate in. They haven't drawn the parallel between InBev's proposed acquisition, and the encroachment of Western media into other cultures. I wish they would.
The Businessweek article I linked above doesn't seem to think that the US Federal government, or the Missouri government, will be able to block the acquisition. A-B is a family owned business, but doesn't have a dual share class like many others, so management won't be able to block the acquisition. (A lot of publicly traded family businesses in the US, especially newspapers, have one share class that has disproportionate voting power, and is insider owned.) A-B might be able to buy Modelo, a Mexican brewer in which they have an interest, and that might make them too big for InBev to buy, but it's not certain if A-B will succeed.
Meanwhile, an iconic American brand is potentially going to a Belgian company with a reputation for cost cutting (A-B has traditionally been heavy on the perks and has union contracts). If I were an A-B shareholder, I'd vote to sell (actually, because of the political risks, I'd just sell the shares on the market right now). If I were an American who loved Budweiser as a beer and an icon, though, I admit I would feel otherwise.
In real life, I'd only start worrying if the capitalist pigs were buying breweries like Bells.
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