Anheuser-Busch InBev

AB InBev is the result of four mergers run by Jorge Paulo Lemann, Marcel Telles and Beto Sicupira: Brahma and Antarctica into AmBev in 1999, AmBev with Interbrew in 2004, the $52 billion takeover of Anheuser-Busch in 2008, and SABMiller for more than $100 billion in 2016. The partners run acquired companies on zero-based budgeting, ranked meritocracy and bonuses tied to stretch targets, and they finance deals with debt. Investors read it as the reference case for cost-driven consolidation and for its limits: net debt near $108 billion forced a dividend cut in 2018 while volumes stagnated. Julie MacIntosh reconstructed the Anheuser-Busch deal, Bill Knoedelseder wrote the Busch family's own decline, and Cristiane Correa's authorised account plus a short guide set out the 3G management method.

4 books