US senator blames weak dollar for Anheuser-Busch takeover

AFP
Tuesday, July 15, 2008

A US senator said Monday the weak dollar was to blame for the takeover by Belgian-Brazilian brewer InBev of rival Anheuser-Busch for 52 billion dollars (33 billion euros).

"I'm disappointed," Senator Claire McCaskill of Missouri said after the deal was announced creating the world's biggest brewer.

McCaskill and others from the home state of Anheuser-Busch had opposed the sale to the Belgian-based firm, claiming the 150-year-old American icon and maker of Budweiser would be lost to foreign investors.

"Anheuser-Busch's Missouri workforce will continue to make the company one of the best in the world, and I am going to do everything I can to make this new arrangement work for Missouri and the millions of Americans who love Budweiser," said McCaskill.

"We need to remember that InBev could afford this All-American company because of the weak dollar created by the economic policies of the last seven years. It's time for a change in our nation's economic priorities."

After having resisted offers from InBev for a month, the Anheuser-Busch board finally agreed on Sunday to accept a sweetened bid that had been raised to 70 dollars a share in cash from 65 dollars.

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