July 14: Anheuser-Busch agreed last night to be taken over by InBev to form the world’s largest brewer. InBev’s successful $52 billion bid – up from $46.5bn – was unanimously accepted by A-B’s board. The new company will be called Anheuser-Busch InBev and with its headquarters in St Louis, Missouri, have annual sales of $36.4bn, equivalent to 460 million hectolitres of beer, based on the two companies’ respective performances last year. Combined pre-tax profits last year were $10.7bn.
