InBev attempting takeover for under-valued price, says A-B

Published: 23 July, 2008

InBev's latest move in its takeover bid for Anheuser-Busch signifies an attempt to gain the company for an under-valued price.

This was the verdict of Anheuser-Busch in response to InBev's announcement on July 7 that it was seeking to replace Anheuser-Busch's existing board of directors.

The Budweiser manufacturer called it a "self-serving" effort to purchase the company for a price that had already been deemed "financially inadequate".

A company statement read: "Anheuser-Busch shareholders should ask themselves whether the directors selected by InBev would negotiate the best transaction for Anheuser-Busch shareholders.

"The Anheuser-Busch board determined that InBev's proposal attempted to transfer the company's value from Anheuser-Busch's shareholders to InBev's shareholders.

At the same time, the Anheuser-Busch board told InBev it would be open to consider any proposal that would provide full and certain value to Anheuser-Busch shareholders. InBev has made no attempt to provide such an offer, nor has it provided details of its self-proclaimed financing, including the conditions to its financing. InBev's non-binding proposal is not a firm offer and could even be lowered. Its proposal is merely an invitation to negotiate.

"Anheuser-Busch believes its present board of directors is in a better position to create the best value for its shareholders than a slate proposed by InBev and the election of which is being paid for by InBev."

InBev made an unsolicited offer of $46bn for the Budweiser manufacturer last month.

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