Dethroning the King: The Hostile Takeover of Anheuser-Busch, an American Icon

Julie MacIntosh

John Wiley & Sons, Sep 20, 2011 - Business & Economics - 416 pages

How the King of Beers collapsed without a fight and what it means for America's place in the post-Recession world

How did InBev, a Belgian company controlled by Brazilians, take over one of America's most beloved brands with scarcely a whimper of opposition? Chalk it up to perfect timing—and some unexpected help from powerful members of the Busch dynasty, the very family that had run the company for more than a century. In Dethroning the King, Julie MacIntosh, the award-winning financial journalist who led coverage of the takeover for the Financial Times, details how the drama that unfolded at Anheuser-Busch in 2008 went largely unreported as the world tumbled into a global economic crisis second only to the Great Depression. Today, as the dust settles, questions are being asked about how the "King of Beers" was so easily captured by a foreign corporation, and whether the company's fall mirrors America's dwindling financial and political dominance as a nation.

• Discusses how the takeover of Anheuser-Busch will be seen as a defining moment in U.S. business history
• Reveals the critical missteps taken by the Busch family and the Anheuser-Busch board
• Argues that Anheuser-Busch had a chance to save itself from InBev's clutches, but infighting and dysfunctionality behind the scenes forced it to capitulate

From America's heartland to the European continent to Brazil, Dethroning the King is the ultimate corporate caper and a fascinating case study that's both wide reaching and profound.

Contents

• Prologue: 1
• The Fourth Abides: 77
• Chapter: 111
• Chapter: 127
• The Old Gobi Desert Trick: 143
• Chapter: 181
• The Board August August and Augusta: 203
• A Seller from Hello: 257
• Put Up or Shut Up: 275
• A Long Way from St Louis: 295
• A Toast on Both Sides: 311
• Cash Out or Hunker Down: 323
• Epilogue: 341
• Notes: 355
• Acknowledgments: 369
• About the Author: 371
• Index: 373

About the author

JULIE MACINTOSH, an award-winning financial journalist, led the Financial Times's coverage of the takeover of Anheuser-Busch as its U.S. Mergers and Acquisitions Correspondent. She also covered the near-collapse of the global banking system while on the mergers beat and, before that, wrote for the newspaper's influential "Lex" column. Prior to joining the Financial Times, she spent six years as a reporter and correspondent for Reuters and, in 2003, was named one of NewsBios's "Top 30 Business Journalists Under 30." She regularly appears on CNBC and MSNBC.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Dethroning the King: The Hostile Takeover of Anheuser-Busch, an American Icon
• Author: Julie MacIntosh
• Publisher: John Wiley & Sons, 2011
• ISBN: 1118202821, 9781118202821
• Length: 416 pages
• Subjects: Business & Economics / Corporate & Business History; Business & Economics / General