Anheuser-Busch drags InBev to court

09 July 2008

To frustrate its Belgian rival InBev's efforts to go hostile with a $46-billion merger offer, US brewer Anheuser-Busch is suing InBev, seeking to stop it from trying to oust Anheuser's entire board and replace it with one that would facilitate the transactionn.

 The US firm said InBev's consent solicitation to replace Anheuser-Busch's directors  was under review in a lawsuit between Anheuser-Busch and InBev in the Delaware courts. "It is unclear whether InBev will be able to affect its proposed consent solicitation unless this suit is resolved," it saied.

The US beermaker charged the European brewer's attempt to go hostile as an attempt at "consent solicitation to gain the company for an under-valued price".

"InBev's announced attempt to seek to replace Anheuser-Busch's existing board of directors with InBev's hand-picked nominees is a self-serving effort by InBev to try to purchase Anheuser-Busch for a price Anheuser-Busch's independent board already has determined to be financially inadequate and not in the best interest of shareholders'" it said in a statement.

It said, "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."
 
Anheuser-Busch shareholders should ask themselves whether the directors selected by InBev would negotiate the best transaction for Anheuser-Busch shareholders, the company said.

On the other had, it said the Anheuser-Busch board of directors was highly independent, composed of individuals with a long and recognised history of creating shareholder value and have a broad range of experience and achievements.  "It is comprised of some of America's top business leaders who have run such companies as AT&T, JP Morgan, Baxter Pharmaceuticals, Ikon Office Solutions, Enterprise Rent-A-Car, and non-profits like Girls Inc., among others" and also includes accomplished professionals from outside of traditional business.