Anheuser investors say $65/share would be fair bid
ju4 wa4i dia4n zo1ng he2 ba4o da4o :\n  By Muralikumar Anantharaman\nBOSTON, June 5 (Reuters) - A bid by Belgium's InBev NV\n<INTB.BR> for Anheuser-Busch Cos <BUD.N> at $65 a share would\nbe reasonable, and a takeover would boost the Budweiser beer\nmaker's sluggish growth, Anheuser shareholders told Reuters.\nInBev, the world's second-biggest brewer, is weighing a bid\nfor Anheuser, the No. 1 U.S. brewer, and sources familiar with\nthe situation told Reuters this week that Anheuser has hired\nfinancial advisers in anticipation of a bid.\nThe companies have not commented, but media reports say\nInBev has been trying to arrange a $50 billion funding package\nfrom banks and was considering an offer of $65 a share.\n"I don't think $65 is a bad price because if the company\nstayed the way it is now, it certainly would be, on average,\ntwo years before the stock reaches that level on a sustained\nbasis," said Stephen Jarislowsky, chairman and CEO of Canada's\nJarislowsky, Fraser Ltd, which owned 1.7 million Anheuser\nshares as of March 31.\nAnheuser shares rose as much as 11.4 percent after the news\nof a likely InBev bid first emerged in May, to an all-time high\nof $58.56 on June 2. They have retreated slightly from that\nlevel and traded at $57.65 Thursday morning.\nA $65-a-share bid would constitute roughly a 24 percent\npremium to the price of the shares before news of a potential\nbid emerged. The shares have been stagnant for the past five\nyears.\nA portfolio manager of a San Francisco-based fund company,\nwhich owned 1.6 million Anheuser shares as of end-March, said\nthe firm was receptive to an InBev bid.\n"Part of the reason we own the stock is the belief that the\ncompany could be run a lot better than it has been," said the\nmanager, who did not wish to be identified. "On the price, it\nreally does depend on the synergies and opportunities seen. But\n$65, given the information that we have, does not seem to be an\nunreasonable price."\nInBev, formed from the 2004 merger of Belgium's Interbrew\nwith Brazil's AmBev, has just a marginal presence in the United\nStates but a mature business in Western Europe.\n'RIGHT CULTURE'\nThe brewer of Stella Artois, Beck's and Brahma is also\npresent in growth markets in Eastern Europe, Asia and Latin\nAmerica, notably in the key market of Brazil.\nInBev's overseas clout is a key reason for investors to\nview favorably any bid for Anheuser, which faces a mature U.S.\nmarket and competition from foreign beers and wine. To\ndiversify, Anheuser bought 50 percent of Mexico's Grupo Modelo\n<GMODELOC.MX> and 27 percent of China's Tsingtao Brewery Co Ltd\n<600600.SS>.\n"A takeover would expand the globalization of their\nfranchise, and we like that," said Duncan Richardson, chief\nequity investment officer at Eaton Vance, the 10th biggest\nAnheuser shareholder with 5.5 million shares as of March 31.\nRichardson declined to comment on the price of a potential\noffer but said Eaton Vance was open to a bid for Anheuser.\n"Part of the investment case was that there could be a\ntakeover," he said.\nA takeover by InBev would not only help Anheuser add\nmarketing leverage and distribution strength, but also change\nthe culture there, some shareholders said.\nThe founding Busch family owns only about a 4 percent fully\ndiluted stake in Anheuser, but it controls management and is\nreported to be divided on supporting an InBev bid.\nAdolphus A. Busch IV, an uncle of the company's current\nCEO, said in a recent statement that a merger is "not a family\nissue ... nor is it a matter of family solidarity or legacy. It\nis strictly a matter of shareholder value ... It is no secret\nthat the sluggish performance of the stock is a concern."\nBillionaire investor Warren Buffett owns a 5 percent stake\nin Anheuser.\n"The family has always been lucky that they have never been\ntaken out," said Jarislowsky.\nThe portfolio manager of the San Francisco-based investment\nfirm said it would be hard for the management of Anheuser to\nreject a reasonable bid.\n"It would inject the right sort of culture into the\ncompany, which has been viewed more as a family company instead\nof as a publicly traded, shareholder-friendly company," the\nmanager said.\n(Additional reporting by Martinne Geller in New York; Editing\nby John Wallace)\n((murali.anantharaman@reuters.com 1 617 367 4199; Reuters\nMessaging: murali.anantharaman.reuters.com@reuters.net))\n((Multimedia versions of Reuters Top News are now available\nfor:* 3000 Xtra: visit http://topnews.session.rservices.com\n* BridgeStation: view story .134\nFor more information on Top News:\nhttp://topnews.reuters.com))\nKeywords: ANHEUSERBUSCH INBEV/INVESTORS