DealZone

Pity the guys who dreamt up two of Wall Street’s coolest tickers — DNA and BUD — both of which look set to be consigned to the dustbin of history.

Genentech grabbed the three letters synonymous with biotechnology by being in on the ground floor of the gene revolution. Anheuser-Busch was lucky enough to have a beer brand known everywhere by one syllable. Now both look doomed.

Genentech faces a $43.7 billion bid from Roche for the 44 percent of the Californian biotech group that it doesn’t already own. Genentech is expected to succomb, albeit after a possibly sweetened offer. Anheuser has already agreed to a $52 billion takeover by InBev.

Their demise may take some of the fun out of stock trading – but investors shouldn’t despair. The thoughtful punter still has other options.

For example:

- BID for auctioneer Sotheby’s

- HOG for Harley-Davidson

- TAP for brewer Molson Coors

- JAVA for Sun Microsystems

- CAR for Avis Budget

- PZZA for pizza company Papa John’s

- BLUD for blood test group Immucor

- LUV for Southwest Airlines (after its Love Field airport in Dallas)

- LVB for Steinway Musical Instruments (after Ludwig van Beethoven)

- LIZ for Liz Claiborne

- PUB for Britain’s Punch Taverns

- WOOF for pet healthcare provider VCA Antech…does that take the biscuit?

U.S. brewer Anheuser-Busch accepted a hopped-up $52 billion takeover bid from Belgium-based InBev. InBev agreed to pay $70 per share for the maker of Budweiser, up from its original unsolicited bid of $65 per share, both companies said on Monday. The improved offer marked a 27 percent premium to Anheuser’s record-high stock price in October 2002. The deal is expected to gain regulatory approval. It would be the largest in the industry and the third-biggest ever foreign takeover of a U.S. company. Now, let the naming begin. While not nearly as bouncy as Microhoo, the union does lend itself to some intriguing combinations. The company seems to be settling on Anheuser-Busch Inbev. ABI Brewing, or ABIB, could suggest beer drinkers need to protect their shirts. The company could certainly be forgiven for seeking something more mouth friendly. Some DealZone suggestions from reporters who have spent far too much time thinking about it: InBusch, AmBusch, InBever-Busch, AmBever, BudBev or BevBud, lending itself to BevBuddies and BuddyBev.

Spain’s Santander is buying British bank Alliance & Leicester for 1.3 billion pounds ($2.6 billion) in an agreed deal that will bulk up its existing UK bank Abbey. Santander, Europe’s second-biggest bank after HSBC, has long been considered a potential buyer of A&L, but has been able to secure a knockdown price after a collapse in its target’s share price in the past year. Santander said it was offering 1 of its shares for every three A&L shares, plus a cash dividend of 18 pence per share. The deal values A&L stock at 317p, compared with a 12-month high of 1,170 pence. A&L shares soared 54 percent to 338 pence by 1000 GMT after Santander confirmed the deal, reflecting the prospect that a takeover battle could ensue.

GlaxoSmithKline could pay Swiss company Actelion up to 3.3 billion Swiss francs ($3.28 billion) to develop a promising insomnia drug in the largest biotech partnering deal. Glaxo, Europe’s biggest drugmaker, beat many of the world’s top pharmaceuticals companies to partner Actelion’s sleeping pill almorexant and the deal sent the Swiss biotech’s stock soaring nearly 10 percent. “The deal terms already allow significant value to be transferred to shareholders,” said Landsbanki Kepler analyst Denise Anderson. Glaxo, which like other big drugmakers is keen to snap up promising new medicines to bolster its pipeline, had been tipped as a likely partner for almorexant, currently in late-stage clinical development. But some analysts had questioned whether it would go for the deal as it has the only other similar drug in clinical development, on hold in mid-stage trials.

The subprime crisis has come to this: The U.S. government is considering taking over mortgage finance companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac if their funding problems worsen, the New York Times reported, citing people briefed on the matter. Fannie and Freddie, government-sponsored entities that have the implicit backing of Washington, would be placed into conservatorship, with shareholders left with little or nothing, and the losses on the $5 trillion in home loans they own or guarantee — what amounts to half of all U.S. mortgages — would be paid by U.S. taxpayers.

General Electric is set to sell its Japanese consumer finance operation to Shinsei Bank for 580 billion yen ($5.4 billion), people familiar with the matter said. The business includes a moneylender, Lake, as well as a credit card and housing loan operation. GE had previously said it was looking to sell Lake, but did not say anything about the entire Japanese consumer finance business.

How’s this for an about-face? Anheuser-Busch is in active talks to sell itself to InBev in a friendly deal, the New York Times said on its website, citing people briefed on the matter. Price seems to be a factor, with InBev seemingly open to raising its $65 per share offer, along with pressure from major shareholders like Warren Buffett. What will politicians like Sen. Claire McCaskill and presidential candidate Barack Obama say now that “America’s Beer” may be selling itself willingly?

InBev, seeking to avoid a lengthy courtroom battle in its takeover attempt of Anheuser-Busch, has asked a court to make a summary judgment on its suit over the removal of all 13 Anheuser board directors. Inbev had previously filed a lawsuit in Delaware Chancery Court seeking to confirm the right of Anheuser shareholders to remove the entire board without cause, and Anheuser has said it would challenge InBev’s claim. The court of public opinion may move more slowly than the one in Delaware in this case, as politicians weigh in about the potential tragedy of Budweiser becoming a little less American if the Dutch Belgian brewer’s $46.3 billion offer wins.

WPP Group, the world’s second-largest advertising company, made a hostile 1.08 billion pound ($2.13 billion) bid for Britain’s Taylor Nelson Sofres, challenging its agreed merger with GfK Holdings. TNS is the world’s third-biggest market research company with clients such as Procter & Gamble. The WPP offer has a significant amount of cash, so the lack of a premium to current prices may not bother TNS shareholders wanting to reduce exposure to the advertising environment, with the pervading frosty economic conditions. A source familiar with the situation told Reuters on Wednesday that Germany’s GfK was considering making a counter-offer for TNS with a co-investor to head off the WPP bid and safeguard its own deal.

Other deals of the day:

* Huron Consulting said it bought management consulting firm Stockamp & Associates for about $219 million in a cash and stock deal to expand its footprint in the hospital consulting space.

Sovereign wealth funds meet this week to uncloak any political motivations that might lurk behind their rich capital infusions. The talks are focused on devising a code of ethics to allay Western fears and could help create transparency. Alas, most of substance is being debated behind closed doors. It is being held in Singapore, so perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised that transparency is not a particularly high priority. The funds, controlling an estimated $3 trillion in assets, are owned by national governments and often armed with cash piles from soaring oil prices and trade. They have sunk billions into Citigroup and UBS, which were reeling from the collapse of the U.S. subprime mortgage market. Goldman Sachs estimates U.S. and European banks may need a further capital infusion of more than $200 billion.

It’s a good thing for Anheuser-Busch that Bud Light is so popular. If Belgian-Brazilian brewer InBev manages to take over the company, it will probably put it on a serious diet as it aims to trim up to $1.4 billion of costs. Employees and union officials at InBev describe the tightest of budget controls: mobile phones taken back and returned only to employees who justified a need for one; new pens given out only in return for used ones; and an elevator at the global headquarters closed for several months. The elevator is back in use now, although signs in the lobby read: “Why not take the stairs?” InBev says many such measures, and notably larger water and energy conservation efforts, also serve sustainability targets and that its cost-saving push is simply one pillar of an overall strategy also focused on boosting beer volumes.

Shares in British retailer Marks & Spencer are up on market talk of possible bid interest in the retailer. Rival department stores owner Philip Green, who was linked with a stakebuild in M&S in January, was again mentioned as a possible suitor, traders said, but some attributed the bounce to expectations for upbeat news from an upcoming M&S annual general meeting. Boss Stuart Rose, lauded for reviving the landmark British retailer just a year ago, is battling to save his job after a big profit warning and bungled management changes.

Presidential candidate Barack Obama found himself in the midst of the increasingly politicized Anheuser-Busch takeover battle on Monday, becoming the latest politician to weigh in against InBev’s $46.3 billion bid during a news conference in the Budweiser brewer’s home town of St. Louis, Missouri.

“I do think it would be a shame if Bud is foreign-owned,” Obama said. “I think we should be able to find an American company that is interested in purchasing Anheuser Busch if in fact Anheuser Busch feels that it’s necessary to sell.”

Obama has plenty of company in his defense of what is seen as that most American of beers — a perception cemented by nearly half a billion dollars in annual ad spending. Missouri’s Gov. Matt Blunt and Sen. Claire McCaskill have also come out against the deal, although it’s not clear they’re in a position to stop it.

Anheuser-Busch is set to reject InBev‘s $46.3 billion takeover offer, a source tells Reuters. After a few weeks of stonewalling by the company and posturing by Missouri politicians, is that really such a surprise? The company’s defensive strategy will hinge on restructuring  the workforce and spinning off non-core assets like the SeaWorld theme parks, but as DealZone’s David Jones notes, those same strategies have already been offered up by InBev as a justification for its bid. Might as well crack open a few icy cold Budweisers — looks like this is going to take a while to sort out.

Fortis shareholders might also be in need of a Stella six-pack, as the Belgian-Dutch financial services group announced plans to shore up its finances with measures worth more than 8 billion euros ($12.54 billion), including issuing new shares, hitting its stock on dilution worries. Fortis will issue 1.5 billion euros in new shares plus up to 2 billion euros of non-dilutive preference shares, save 1.3 billion euros by not paying an interim 2008 dividend, and will also sell non-core assets and sell and lease back real estate. “We believe that 2008 will be a difficult year for our industry and we do not expect an improvement in the economic environment soon,” said CEO Jean-Paul Votron. “The measures announced today will help Fortis navigate through the current challenging market circumstances.”

Goldman analyst William Tanona has pulled a page from the Meredith Whitney playbook, questioning the viability of the Citibank‘s dividend, predicting $8.9 billion in second-quarter writedowns, and adding its stock to the “conviction sell” list. He also said that the bank may have to issue common stock or sell assets to raise capital because regulators may forbid it from issuing more preferred or convertible securities. Citi shares were down 3.7 percent in pre-open trading.

InBev has timed its $46.3 billion bid for Budweiser brewer Anheuser-Busch well. Anheuser's shares have gone nowhere for five years, Chief Executive August Busch IV is not the leader his father was, while InBev is buoyed by strong revenues from Brazil, where the real is riding high.

That probably explains the wall of silence from the Budweiser brewer's home town of St Louis. What does it do to fight off the $65 a share bid -- sack its chief executive, sell
off its non-core assets or look for a friendly white knight?

The Busch family has had influence over the group well beyond its small 3.5 percent stake. But with hard cash on the table, hedge funds moving in and investment guru Warren Buffett sitting on 5 percent, the family no longer pulls all the strings.

By Richard Cowan

Swallowing the popular American brew Budweiser in a $46.3 billion takeover is just business for Belgium’s InBev. But InBev CEO Carlos Brito found himself sipping a bottle of Bud Lite on Tuesday when he met with a Missouri senator who opposes the deal.

en. Claire McCaskill pointedly served Brito and his aides a selection of Budweiser, Bud Lite and Bud Select when they met in McCaskill’s office on Tuesday.

“I offered everyone a Budweiser. They all politely took a Bud Lite,” the first-term senator told reporters after a frosty, 45-minute meeting. “I think I’m the only one who almost finished mine.”

InBev‘s $46 billion bid for Anheuser-Busch is stirring up some Budweiser pride in the brewer’s home tome of St Louis, Missouri. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that a crowd of about 100 demonstrators marched this weekend, chanting “Hell no, Bud won’t go.”

Some wore “This Bud’s for U.S.A.” T-shirts, perhaps not surprising since Anheuser-Busch spends about $475 million each year on ads that often tout Budweiser as “America’s Beer.” Rally attendee Dave White promised that he would never let a drop of Bud pass his lips if InBev, the Belgian brewing giant, was successful in its takeover bid.

“I’m not a Miller guy, so I’ll have to go with micro beers or brew my own,” he told the Post-Dispatch.