InBev, the Belgian-Brazilian brewer which is considering making a $46bn offer for Anheuser-Busch, is hoping to convince its US rival to sit down for friendly talks but has made no formal overtures so far, say people close to both companies. InBev’s board of directors will soon debate a specific course of action. But the company is working with JPMorgan and Santander to line up potential financing – which could require a $50bn-$60bn package to be followed possibly by a rights issue of about €15bn ($23.5) to pay down debt – which has limited its ability to approach Anheuser with a clear offer. It’s probably premature to speculate on who might spoil InBev’s beer party by agreeing a friendly merger with Anheuser in preference to the zero-base budgeting team from Belgium and Brazil. “But why should that stop us?”, asks FT Alphaville.

This entry was posted by Gwen Robinson on Wednesday, May 28th, 2008 at 5:38 and is filed under Capital markets, M&A. Tagged with anheuser-busch, InBev. Edit this entry.