Is it Last Call for Wall Street at Anheuser-Busch?

On Anheuser-Busch’s conference call Wednesday to discuss second-quarter earnings, the tone was more like a wake than the tailgate parties of old.

Well, previous calls never really had galloping Clydesdales, singing frogs or a hard-partying Bull Terrier. But quarter after quarter, investors and analysts from both the ”buy” and ”sell” sides would still dial in after the close of New York trading for the latest color on beer sales.

Wednesday’s get-together — likely the second-to-last one before the brewer gets swallowed by Belgian brewer InBev – was different. 

First, the earnings were released at 11:12 a.m. ET, (instead of the usual 2:30 p.m.), just as Wall Street’s beverage analysts were listening to PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi , on her conference call, discuss ways the company is changing its business to cope with the current economic uncertainty.

The Bud call started at noon, immediately following the Pepsi call.

While Chief Financial Officer W. Randy Baker said the teleconference was “earlier to accommodate the increased interest of European investors and analysts,” one U.S.-based analyst, who agreed to speak on the condition of anonymity, guessed that the near overlap with Pepsi’s presentation was no coincidence.

“Structurally, they set it up so that they wouldn’t really have to talk. I understand why they did that,” said the analyst, adding that the context and timing of the call kept off a lot of analysts, who were likely tied up with Pepsi.

Gone was the typically long Q&A session with analysts including Morgan Stanley’s Bill Pecoriello, Stifel Nicolaus’s Mark Swartzberg, UBS’s Kaumil Gajrawala, Deutsche Bank’s Marc Greenberg, JP Morgan’s John Faucher and Goldman Sachs’ Judy Hong. Bryan Spillane from Banc of America and Anthony Bucalo from Credit Suisse lobbed the only questions from the usual suspects.

In their places were London-based analysts who cover InBev, such as Chris Pitcher of Redburn Partners and Philip Morrisey of Citigroup.  

“It was partially timing and partially like, ‘Hey guys, if you’re not going to make our lives easy, we’re going to go out and try to talk to our clients about a stock that matters now,” the analyst said. 

Edward Jones analyst Jack Russo, who said he was on the conference call but did not ask a question, told Reuters that timing wasn’t the only issue.

“I think a lot of people are pretty much assuming this deal is done, that the company is going to no longer be an independent company by the end of the year, so I think interest kind of trails off as a result of that.”

He noted that some people might have tuned in for an update on the status of the deal, but that they’ll probably have to listen to an InBev call for that.

InBev, or the soon-to-be-called Anheuser-Busch InBev, will release earnings on August 14. Let’s hope InBev CEO Carlos Brito changes its call time to make it more convenient for the U.S. investors.

(Photo: Reuters)     

Anheuser-Busch’s “Cuba defense” against a takeover by Belgium-based InBev may have gone flat after the Budweiser folks agreed to be bought out, but don’t expect to see America’s top-selling beers in Havana bars any time soon.  

InBev brews and sells Beck’s, Bucanero, Cristal and Mayabe beers in Cuba through a 50/50 joint venture with the Cuban government. Could Cubans now be one mambo step closer to cracking open a cold Bud on a hot Havana night? 

Not so fast, says Uncle Sam.

According to a U.S. embargo against Cuba “no products, technology, or services may be exported from the United States to Cuba, either directly or through third countries. This prohibition includes dealing in or assisting the sale of goods or commodities to or from Cuba, even if done entirely offshore.” 

Exceptions include things like medicine, food, agricultural products, works of art or publications. 

“There will not be any Bud in Cuba. That’s a business that doesn’t exist now and it will not exist in the future until the regime changes,” said Todd Malan, president and chief executive of the Organization for International Investment, a lobbying group that represents U.S. subsidiaries of foreign companies.

But talk to enough people in Cuba and someone will remember when Budweiser was sold there. A waiter at Havana’s landmark Hotel Nacional recently said the last time he saw it was in the early 1990s –  right about the time the Soviet Union collapsed and Cuba’s economy, heavily subsidized by Moscow, went south.  

But Corona, whose brewer Grupo Modelo is half-owned by Anheuser, is generally sold in hotels, restaurants and some stores that cater to foreigners.

Average Cubans tend to know Corona’s name and some say they have seen it occassionally, but it is not their everyday choice. That would be one of InBev’s beers.

A can of Cristal or Bucanero at stores costs at least 1 CUC - the Cuban hard currency worth slightly less than a dollar. Given that the average Cuban makes about $18/month, beer is a luxury.

Bottles of Cuban rum — which include Pernod Ricard’s Havana Club — start at around $3 and go up from there. 
     
A DEAL OBSTACLE? 

Before a higher bid lured Anheuser into negotiations, the Budweiser maker sued InBev, saying the maker of Stella Artois and Becks may be lying when it promised to manage the combined company’s North American business from its hometown of St. Louis, since its Cuban business would make that impossible.

But InBev could take a cue from France-based Pernod, which also owns Wild Turkey bourbon, made in the United States. It does not sell Havana Club in the U.S. or Wild Turkey in Cuba. Its business in Cuba is completely separate from the U.S., according to Mark Orr, Pernod Ricard USA’s vice president for North American affairs.

He guessed that if regulators hassled InBev over its Cuban ties, the maker of Stella Artois and Beck’s could save itself by making sure that the Cuban venture was managed separately from anything going on in the U.S.

“I have no personal knowledge about how their business is currently structured, but I think they could do it fairly easily because everybody else has managed to do it in the appropriate way,” Orr said. “They are smart people and I’m certain they’ll do the necessary thing to comply with the law.”

InBev sells less than half a percent of its total beer volume in Cuba, according to a spokeswoman. Therefore, lawyers have said, it’s likely that InBev would swiftly sell it rather than have it impede its $52 billion takeover of Anheuser-Busch.   

And if the Castro dynasty were to end? Expect the “King of Beers” to be paraded through the streets of Havana, Clydesdales and all. 

(Additional reporting by Jeff Franks in Havana) 
     
(Photos: Reuters)   

Check out: InBever-Busch? BudBever?
 
That hostile takeover stuff between InBev and Anheuser-Busch with the court fight and proxy battle and stuff? Looks like it was nothing a little more money can’t solve.

The two companies have begun friendly negotiations, a source told Reuters. The Wall Street Journal and New York Times reported that InBev has raised its offer by $5, to $70 a share, to try to cinch a friendly deal.

Some analysts have said that even $65 was something Anheuser-Busch shareholders would take. At $70, the discussions could be reduced more to things like what to call the company.

InBev is the buyer, so it could just keep its own name. A Busch runs the company, so they could get a nod if there is some sort of corporate name change, a la DaimlerChrysler, or Newell Rubbermaid.

Eberhard Anheuser, who started the company by buying a Bavarian brewery in 1860 might be out of luck. But Adolphus Busch was his son-in-law, so the family could still be represented.

So, any naming consultants have any ideas for what to call the company if a deal happens?
 
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(Image from Anheuser-Busch)

Check out things looking hostile in InBev’s bid for Anheuser-Busch.

InBev, spurned so far in its attempt to acquire the maker of Budweiser and Bud Light, filed papers with the Securities and Exchange Commission that would lead to Anheuser shareholders voting on the future of the U.S. company’s board.

The Belgian beer maker also unveiled its own proposed board that would include Adolphus Busch IV, an uncle of Anheuser’s current chief executive. Makes you go Hmmm…

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Check out signs of possible acrimony in InBev’s takeover bid for Anheuser-Busch.

Could InBev be bringing a new flavor — Hostile Light — to the beer wars as it pushes forward with its $46.3 billion takeover bid for the maker of Budweiser?

On Thursday, InBev reiterated its preference for a friendly combination that would create the world’s biggest brewer but filed suit to establish that Anheuser’s shareholders could remove their entire board, possibly setting the state for a more contentious battle.

Anheuser, which rejected InBev’s bid on Thursday, said on Friday that it will challenge its would-be acquirer’s lawsuit over the board removal.

Still, some say the door is open to a friendly deal. Stay tuned.

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(Photo: Anheuser-Busch)

Check Out more news from the Anheuser-Busch front.

The company, which owns half of Mexico’s Groupo Modelo, said Modelo’s chief executive Carlos Fernandez resigned from Anheuser’s board, even as the American beer company tries to thwart an unsolicited takeover bid from Belgian-Brazilian brewer InBev NV.

Modelo is an important player here — it has been approached by Anheuser about a possible combination, according to the Wall Street Journal, while Reuters’ sources, who are familiar with the situation, have said that InBev also courted the Mexican company.

Separately, Anheuser also said that it will acquire the remaining 50 percent stake of the Crown Beers India Ltd joint venture from partner Crown International.

Crown International and Anheuser formed the Crown Beers India venture last year to distribute Budweiser and Armstrong, a beer developed specifically for India, throughout southern and western India.

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(Photo: Reuters)