Budweiser isn't exactly a poster child in acquiring assets. They absolutely intimidated the EU into taking away the European naming rights of "Budweiser" from the original brewer in the Czech Republic. "Budvar," which is Czech for "Budweiser," has been making beer since the 1300's and was overwhelmed by AB's resources to steal the name from them so AB's "Budweiser" could be marketed in Europe under the name. So, maybe the Busch family are thieves in their own right. Their beer is crap but I sure don't want to see racing a fatality of merger mania.

This is why I said it is hard to say what the new company will do if they do merge. BP merged with Amoco in 98 I believe and the sponsorship didn't go away until 2001. You give an example of where cuts were made (over time) and I gave a more recent example of the same company merging and not cutting a drag race team sponsorship. By the way, if my memory is correct when the Amoco sponsorship was lost the Amoco brand was also going away.

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It was only a sponsorship because some people chose to call it that. Remember that Allen owns a chain of quick stops/gas stations and was an Amoco distributor. As I remember it, the signs came off the car because BP said "no way", while Amoco had been saying "maybe in the future".

That sort of "sponsorship" was fairly common at the time. Other examples might be Gary Brown (Texaco) Tim Wilkerson (NAPA), and quite a few others.

If you continue to maintain that it's not possible to predict, take a few minutes and check what happened to the promotional budgets of InBev's previous takeovers.

And Paul, it's not a merger. It's about as far from a merger as you can get.

Budweiser had every right to defend their brand. Some feel they (Budvar)were pressing AB for a form of greenmail.

Pisses me offto see the Busches called thieves. Every damned beer company in this counrty was formed by immigrants and some "biult" independent brands bigger than anything they brought from the old country.
Busweiser is Budweiser!

PS: In spite of what I said at the beginning of this thread, Bud's entire marketing persona is likely to be threated or, at least, significantly cut back if In-Bev takes over.

Anheuser-Busch rejects InBev bid as 'inadequate'

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"I got a fever, and the only prescription... is more cowbell!"

Buell's and Hardley's suck!

It remains to be seen how determined InBev is on buying A-B. If they increase the offer in an attempt to lure A-B stockholders to push the board to sell, they'll end up borrowing lots of money, and then will be forced to sell off a lot of company assets, ranging from the theme parks, all the way to brands and also shut down and sell plants and equipment therein, in an attempt to pay off loans.

In fact, all of the above is what InBev is known for doing.

Let's hope the A-B board remains steely in their resolve to not sell.

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AKA DrRocket

AB is the laughing stock of the world that they call their beverage beer. There is a reason it's call "Buttwiper."

Ask the breweries that were manhandled, bought out and booted aside by the Busch family. Their hands are not squeeky clean by any means.

You're probably right on that one. Drag racing would probably be a casualty of a merger due to such a small marketing arena.


FT.com / Companies / Consumer industries - InBev to go hostile as Anheuser rejects bid
Can InBev turn Budweiser into a global brand? - International Herald Tribune

InBev is taking it's hostile takeover bid to the next level, asking sharerholders to oust the current board of directors, and replace it with a freindly one handpicked by InBev.

InBev seeks to remove Anheuser board in $46 billion takeover bid

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AKA DrRocket