Budweiser Inbev Deal - Mr. Brito Goes To Washington

Budweiser InBev

The head of InBev was in Washington D.C. last week to garner support for his company’s $65 dollar a share hostile bid for Anheuser-Busch. I’ll grant you that Mr. Brito has a significant uphill climb ahead of him. In fact, I wrote about the Budweiser Inbev merger when the news broke and I was dead set against this takeover and still am.

But this isn’t a rant about the merger, this is a rant about respect. It’s about little things that on the world stage, mean a lot. It’s the little things that have a cumulative effect on world wide events. It’s the “death by a thousand needles” concept. The specific topic I am referencing is the meeting between Mr. Brito and Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.).

Here in lies the problem

According to people at the meeting, Sen. McCaskill was pretty pissy from jump street, being a serious opponent of this deal. As the two sat down, she offered Mr. Brito a beer; three different Anheuser-Busch beverages to be exact, while offering him none of the ten world famous beers his company markets.

Now, don’t get me wrong, as the representative for the people of the great state of Missouri, Sen. McCaskill has some real concerns about this takeover, but to treat a possible constituent the way she did was wrong. Why wouldn’t she offer him an Anheuser-Busch product and while she herself imbibe a Stella Artois or a Becks?

What’s My Point?

You have to show this guy some respect. His is still the CEO of a worldwide organization that if things go according to plan, could wind up being one of the largest employers in your state. So call me crazy, but maybe you don’t make this guy jump through hoops or disrespect him.

Besides, Mr. Brito doesn’t really need to be doing the dog and pony show for this deal to get approved anyway. If he has the balls to pull the trigger on a hostile bid for Anheuser-Bush (and I still think it’s a mistake) he won’t need to worry about any regulatory approval from any branch of government here in the United States….Not if Microsoft wants to sell another copy of Vista in Europe anytime soon!

So, if the Budweiser InBev deal is going to happen, it’s not going to be on the back of Sen. McCaskill, so why give her the chance to eff it up? Get out of the way Senator and let the law of natural selection take it’s course….but thanks for sticking your nose in it….troublemaker!