Budweiser heads overseas
May 30th, 2008 by admin
The newsmedia have recently been replete with the story of the possible acquisition of Anheuser-Busch by a Belgian brewer. The story has not received the attention which it deserves, possibly because of the huge shadow cast by the story of crude oil prices. Even so, this is a story of a possible loss of an American icon to overseas money. Many an investment newsletter has captured the real meaning of the story, but it has not filtered down to the everyday newspapers or even to television reportage. It should be recognized that the impact of the event will be immense. The impact upon sales of the product within the United States may be even more important, when the purchaser of the product realizes for the first time that no longer will "Bud" be red-blooded American. What does one suppose "This Bud’s for you" will come to mean? "You" being "whom?" Overseas shareholders? On balance, this acquisition should not be allowed to happen. It wasn’t all that long ago that a Chinese company attempted to buy a major American oil company; but the populace and the Congress would have none of it. The same principle should apply in this case. The bottom line is that "Bud" must remain wrapped in the American Flag.