Anheuser-Busch InBev

History

Formation

Interbrew was formed in 1987 from a merger of the two largest breweries in Belgium: Artois and Piedboeuf. The Artois brewery, previously known as Den Hoorn, was established by 1366 and the Piedboeuf brewery was established by 1812.

Interbrew then acquired a number of local breweries in Belgium. By 1991, the second phase of targeted external growth began outside Belgium. The first transaction in this phase took place in Hungary, followed in 1995 by the acquisition of Labatt Brewing Company (founded 1847), the largest brewer in Canada, and then in 1999 by a joint venture with Sun in Russia.

In 2000, Interbrew acquired Bass and Whitbread in the UK. They then acquired a number of German breweries: Diebels and Beck's & Co. (founded 1873, the maker of the world's top selling German beer) in 2001, the Gilde Group in 2002, and Spaten in 2003.

In 2002, Interbrew also acquired stakes in the K.K. Brewery and the Zhujiang Brewery, strengthening its position in China.

Interbrew operated as a family-owned business until December 2000. At this point it organized an initial public offering, becoming a publicly owned company trading on the Euronext stock exchange (Brussels, Belgium).

AmBev (short for America Beverages, formally Companhia de Bebidas das Américas, Portuguese for "Beverages Company of the Americas") is a Brazilian beverages company formed in 1999 with the merger of the two biggest Brazilian brewers, Antarctica (founded in 1880) and Brahma (founded in 1886). The organization's headquarters are in São Paulo, Brazil. As an independent operator it's the largest beer company by market capitalization in Brazil and in the Southern Hemisphere.

Ambev operates in 18 countries in the Americas and its products include beers such as Antarctica, Bogotá Beer Company, Brahma, Bohemia, Stella Artois and soft drinks like Guaraná Antarctica, Soda Antarctica, Sukita and the innovations H2OH! and Guarah.

The subsidiary is listed on B3, the São Paulo stock exchange, and on the New York Stock Exchange.

Parks and resorts

Anheuser-Busch had been one of the largest theme park operators in the United States with ten parks throughout the United States. In October 2009, AB InBev announced the sale of its Busch Entertainment theme park division to The Blackstone Group for US$2.7 billion. The company had been investigating a sale of Busch Entertainment since the merger with AB InBev.

In 2012, AB InBev bought a 51% stake of Cervecería Nacional Dominicana, a beer producer in the Dominican Republic which was the largest in the Antilles and Central America.

In 2013, the company bought Grupo Modelo, Mexico's leading brewer and owner of the Corona brand. This transaction was valued at US$20.1 billion. To satisfy US anti-trust demands, on 7 June 2013 AB InBev sold its Grupo Modelo's US business, including Grupo Modelo's brand naming rights and one of the breweries in Piedras Negras in Mexico, for approx. US$4.75 billion to Constellation Brands, a competitor of AB Inbev in some beverage sectors.

On 1 April 2014, AB Inbev completed the re-acquisition of the Oriental Brewery (OB), which it had sold in July 2009. OB is the largest brewer in South Korea. Its CASS brand is the best-selling beer in South Korea. All beers produced by OB are brewed using rice.

In 2013, AB InBev opened its Bud Analytics Lab in Research Park, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, which develops data research and innovation to solve problems ranging from assortment optimization, social media, and market trends to large scale data initiatives.

On 13 October 2015, Anheuser-Busch InBev made a bid of £70 billion, (US$107 billion when the deal closed), or £44 per share, for its largest rival, the South African company SABMiller, which if approved would give the company a third of the global market share for beer sales and a half of the global profit. The company had previously offered £38, £40, £42.15, £43.50 per share respectively, but each of these had been turned down.

SABMiller accepted the bid in principle, but consummation of the deal required antitrust approval by regulatory agencies. In 2015, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) had agreed to the deal only on the basis that SABMiller "spins off all its MillerCoors holdings in the U.S.—which include both Miller- and Coors-held brands—along with its Miller brands outside the U.S." The entire ownership situation was complicated: "In the United States, Coors is majority-owned by MillerCoors (a subsidiary of SABMiller) and minority-owned by Molson Coors, though internationally it's entirely owned by Molson Coors, and Miller is owned by SABMiller."

Diagram

The following is a diagram of AB InBev's major mergers and acquisitions and historical predecessors.

Ownership

Anheuser-Busch InBev is controlled by Belgian families Vandamme, de Mévius and de Spoelberch, who as of 2015 owned a combined 28.6% of the company, and Brazilian investors Jorge Paulo Lemann, Carlos Alberto Sicupira and Marcel Telles, who owned 22.7% through their private investment firm 3G Capital.

After the formation of Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV on 20 October 2016, the company was to be run by teams of "functional chiefs" and "zone presidents" who reported to AB InBev chief executive officer (CEO) Carlos Brito. All but one of those 19 positions are held by people who were already AB InBev executives before the acquisition of SABMiller. Effective July 2021, Brito stepped down as the CEO of AB InBev after 15 years. Michel Doukeris, previously CEO of North American business for Anheuser-Busch, succeeded him as CEO.

Controversies

2015 US Justice Department investigation

In October 2015, the company was investigated by the US Justice Department for buying beer distributors and preventing them from selling the beers of its competitors.

2016 bribery

In September 2016, it was reported that AB InBev had paid a $6 million fine to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for violations of bribery laws under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and for silencing a whistleblower.

2017 anti-competitive practices

In May 2017, the company was criticized for reportedly engaging in anti-competitive practices after purchasing the entire supply of South African hops from SAB Hop Farms, as part of the SABMiller purchase, and making the hops unavailable to any US craft brewers. Similar anti-competitive claims were also made in association with the company's purchase of Roseville, Minnesota-based Northern Brewer, the biggest homebrew-supply chain in the US, through AB Inbev's venture arm ZX Ventures.

The following month, the company was further criticized for having purchased a stake in the beer rating website RateBeer, leading to concerns that the purchase was a conflict of interest.

2017 Casa Mia

In July 2017, the company terminated its contract with "Casa Mia" pizzeria in Munich after the politician Ernst Dill tried to persuade the owner to ban Pegida supporters amongst his guests. The year before Anheuser-Busch InBev already bound the owner of "Casa Mia" by contract to interpose at any sign of political activities. A company spokesperson said that the contract termination was not politically motivated.

2018 Major League Baseball and NBA advertising

In autumn 2018, AB InBev completed deals with Major League Baseball and the NBA which will allow it to use athletes' names and images when advertising. This is the first time in 60 years players will be seen in beer ads. These ads will promote safe drinking.

2019 false advertising lawsuit

On 21 March 2019, AB InBev subsidiary Anheuser-Busch was sued for false advertising by rival MillerCoors over a Bud Light commercial that aired during the 2019 Super Bowl. The commercial claimed MillerCoors' Miller Lite and Coors Light products contain corn syrup, but the lawsuit argues that corn syrup is only used during the brewing process as a fermentation aid and neither beer contains corn syrup. The suit alleges that Anheuser-Busch is using "false and misleading statements" to confuse health-conscious consumers into thinking the beers contain high-fructose corn syrup, which has been linked with obesity. An Anheuser-Busch spokesperson called the lawsuit "baseless" and said it would not deter Bud Light from "providing consumers with the transparency they demand." MillerCoors is seeking an injunction to prevent Bud Light from continuing the ad campaign, as well as a trial by jury and legal fees.

2023 Bud Light boycott

Since April 2023, AB InBev subsidiary Anheuser-Busch's Bud Light has faced an ongoing boycott from conservatives in the United States after having partnered with transgender influencer and activist Dylan Mulvaney. This has resulted in an ongoing major backlash and a boycott by the American right. Anheuser-Busch CEO Brendan Whitworth attempted to walk back the partnership by saying, "We never intended to be part of a discussion that divides people. We are in the business of bringing people together over a beer." During the initial stage of the boycott, Anheuser-Busch issued a statement that marketing executive Alissa Heinerscheid had taken a leave of absence and would be replaced with its Vice President of Global Marketing, Todd Allen. A second executive, Daniel Blake, who was Heinerscheid's supervisor, was also placed on leave. An Anheuser-Busch spokesperson told The Wall Street Journal “Given the circumstances, Alissa has decided to take a leave of absence which we support. Daniel has also decided to take a leave of absence.”

On 10 May 2023, HSBC downgraded Anheuser-Busch InBev stock as it dealt with a 'Bud Light crisis'. Analysts at HSBC cited “deeper problems than ABI admits” after a recent partnership with the transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney resulted in a wave of backlash and a boycott. The analyst cited a Beer Marketer's Insights note that showed a steep drop in beer sales 'of maybe more than 25%' in April.

2023 PwC tax breach

In May 2023, AB InBev was named in Australia as one of three companies, along with Glencore and JBS, that used confidential tax information provided by PwC’s then head of international tax Peter Collins, which he obtained after consultations with treasury. It was alleged that these companies acted on this information and restructured their operations to take advantage of new Multinational Anti-Avoidance Law (MAAL) introduced in 2016.