InBev to Buy Budweiser, McCain

Report by Stan Lawrence, MO Chapter

The Belgian Brewing giant, InBev, announced it’s plans to take control of Anheuser-Busch (A-B) at a cost of $52 billion, creating the largest beer producing conglomerate in the world. 

Negotiations for the deal, which were attended by A-B heiress and wife of White House hopeful John McCain, Cindy McCain, were reportedly at a stand still until Mrs. McCain offered to sweeten the deal by including a controlling share in her husband. Through Mrs. McCain’s interest in A-B, the McCain’s stand to gain nearly $5 billion upon the close of the InBev deal and $20 billion more via eventual inheritance.

A spokesperson for InBev, on the condition of anonymity, praised the deal by noting that InBev stands to recover most of the additional purchase price paid for McCain over the next four years, through tax breaks that McCain could secure for them as a U.S. Senator, “imagine how profitable it will be for InBev if McCain actually wins the Presidency!” The InBev - A-B deal had stalled at a price of $45 billion prior to Mrs. McCain’s offer, indicating that InBev valued control of Sen. McCain at roughly $7 billion. If that estimate is correct, McCain’s price sets a new record for money paid for a nominee for President, beating Haliburton’s 2000 purchase of George W. Bush by almost $1 billion.