Dethroning the King: The Hostile Takeover of Anheuser-Busch, an American Icon

426 Pages·2011·2.04 MB·English

by  Julie MacIntosh

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Praise for Dethroning the King
“A Foolish Book Recommendation for July.”
—The Motley Fool
“How the Busch clan lost control of an iconic American beer company. If ever an
American company represented the land of milk and honey for corporate execu-
tives it was Anheuser-Busch . . . For decades a palace of well-paid vice presidents
in cushy offi ces presided over the manufacture of Budweiser, America’s beer,
in that most American of cities, St. Louis. ‘Few companies on earth were more
evocative of America, with all of its history and iconography, than Anheuser-
Busch,’ writes veteran Financial Times journalist Julie MacIntosh in her strenu-
ously reported book, Dethroning the King: The Hostile Takeover of Anheuser-Busch,
an American Icon. As the title suggests, the reign of the King of Beers ended in
the summer of 2008, when the company merged with the Brazil-based brew-
ing giant InBev, an outfi t about as culturally different from Anheuser-Busch
as one could imagine. At $70 a share, or $52 billion, it was the largest all-cash
acquisition in history and even more noteworthy because it occurred during the
gathering storm of a global fi nancial collapse . . . When growth-hungry InBev
arrives on the scene, a company so lean and cost-conscious that they’re called
the Walmart of brewers, all hell breaks loose at the complacent Anheuser-Busch
headquarters. The Brazilians make a pitch of $43 billion in what’s known on Wall
Street as a “bear hug”—an offer so generous that the recipient can’t refuse. But
A-B’s board does refuse, triggering weeks of moves and counter-moves and end-
less end-g aming by the two companies. Ms. MacIntosh relates every gambit in
crisp, scene-by-scene detail.”
—The Wall Street Journal
“Ms. MacIntosh . . . earns extra credit for staying on the Anheuser-InBev case
despite considerable macrocosmic distractions . . . The author’s persistence pays
off in her account of the Busch family’s searing internecine strife . . . Dethroning
the King makes for a fi ne yarn with a cautionary message about American business
in the age of globalization. InBev began laying off workers less than a month after
the deal formally closed, Ms. MacIntosh reports. Maybe the next time a foreign
entity tries to acquire a major American family company, the public will take
notice before it becomes a fait accompli.”
—The New York Times
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“There’s a lesson for all in book on brewing . . . a great read.”
—Morning Advertiser
“Dethroning the King. . . . is the compelling play-by-play of InBev’s takeover of
Anheuser-Busch. Give MacIntosh a Stella Artois for her excellent reporting.”
—Stltoday.com
“Dethroning the King is a brutally detailed look at the hostile takeover of Anheuser-
Busch, the legendary icon that at one time was the epitome of American business
success. It is a story that may well go down in American business history as one
of the defi ning moments of this era. [An] insightful and brilliantly written work.
As American business continues to dramatically change, this compelling book
should be on every businessperson’s reading list.”
—Business Lexington
“In a narrative that reads as fast as any fi ction thriller, Financial Times journalist
MacIntosh details the 2008 takeover of the iconic Anheuser-Busch brewing
company by Belgian corporation InBev, focusing particularly on the company’s
importance to the St. Louis region; its management, or lack thereof, by the Busch
family (particularly the August Busches III and IV); and the broader unsettled
economic climate of 2008.”
—Library Journal, naming Dethroning the King
one of the best business books of 2010
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Dethroning
the King
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Dethroning
the King
The Hostile Takeover of
Anheuser-Busch,
an American Icon
Julie MacIntosh
John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
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Copyright © 2011 by Julie MacIntosh. All rights reserved.
Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey.
Published simultaneously in Canada.
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:
MacIntosh, Julie.
Dethroning the king : the hostile takeover of Anheuser-Busch, an American icon /
Julie MacIntosh.
p. cm.
Includes index.
ISBN 978-0-470-59270-0 (cloth); ISBN 978-1-118-15702-2 (pbk);
ISBN 978-1-118-20281-4 (ebk); ISBN 978-1-118-20282-1 (ebk);
ISBN 978-1-118-20283-8 (ebk)
1. Anheuser-Busch, inc. 2. Busch family. 3. Consolidation and merger of
corporations—United States. I. Title.
HD9397.U6B87 2010
338.8'3663420973—dc22
2010032279
Printed in the United States of America
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To my husband, Micah, for his limitless support and patience,
and to Miller, for arriving at exactly the right time
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