Brazilians place an unsolicited $46.3bn bid for Anheuser- Busch

InBev proudly traces its heritage back to 1366, in what is now Belgium.

But although the brewer retains its headquarters there, its Brazilian-led management calls the shots.

This includes Carlos Brito, its chief executive. He took up his role in 2005, a year after InBev was established by a merger of Belgium’s Interbrew and AmBev, Latin America’s biggest beer group.

Mr Brito is central to his company’s unsolicited $46.3bn bid for Anheuser- Busch of the US, potentially a transformational deal that would give InBev about a quarter of the world’s market for beer.

Mr Brito joined Brazil-based AmBev nearly 20 years ago and rose to the top before moving to InBev to lead the company’s North American operations.

The hard-driving 48-year-old projects an informal image: he is known simply as “Brito”.

But this belies his quest to squeeze out costs and boost efficiency. InBev has been forged through a run of acquisitions round the globe, producing billions of euros worth of cost savings.

Mr Brito, who has an MBA from Stanford, revealed in a speech at the US university this year that perks are few and far between at InBev, although there is an aggressive compensation system.

“We say the leaner the business, the more money we will have at the end of the year to share,” he said. “I don’t have an office. I share my table with my vice-presidents. I sit with my marketing guy to my left, my sales guy to my right, my finance guy in front of me.”

Mr Brito’s chief financial officer is Felipe Dutra, a 42-year-old Brazilian. Sitting above them on InBev’s board are Jorge Paulo Lemann, Marcel Telles, Roberto Thomson Motta and Carlos Sicupira, who were brought together by GP Investimentos, an investment company that successfully bought into many Brazilian groups.

The board members “are very objective, simple and direct in their approach,” says one former AmBev executive. “They set objectives and they don’t change them much. Even if an operation is high-cost, their priority is to have control over whatever they operate and hegemony over whatever market they operate in.”

Mr Brito has played down the suggestion that he and his colleagues would dominate a new InBev-Anheuser combination, saying it would draw on talented executives from both sides.

But the Brazilians’ track record suggests they are unlikely to join any venture over which they fail to have operational control.

Chicago, May 23, 2008.The world's second biggest brewer by volume, InBev is working on a $46 billion bid for Anheuser Busch, famous for brewing Budweiser.Brazilians shareholders have the majority of brewer InBev headquarter in Belgium. It employs about 86,000 people. InBev was created in 2004 when the Belgian company Interbrew and the Brazilian company AmBev merged, creating one of the world's largest brewer. The actual CEO, Carlos Brito, a Brazilian citizen, have been in charge for the company since 2005. The majory of the board members of InBev are aslo Brazilians.

The next time you have a beer, you most likely to be drinking a Brazilian one.

These are the the brands produced by InBev:

• Absolut Cut (Sweden)
  
• Alexander Keith's (Canada)
  
• Andes (Argentina)
  
• Antarctica (Brazil)
  
• Apatinska pivara (Serbia)
  
• Jelen pivo
  
• Pils Light
  
• Aqua Fratelli Vita (Brazil)
  
• AstikA (Bulgaria)
  
• Baisha (China) <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />
  
• BagBier (Russia)
  
• BagBier
  
• BagBier Classicheskoye
  
• BagBier Krepkoye
  
• BagBier Nashe
  
• Bass (United Kingdom)
  
• Beck's (Germany)
  
• Belle-Vue (Belgium)
  
• Belle-Vue Kriek
  
• Belle-Vue Kriek Extra
  
• Belle-Vue Framboise
  
• Belle-Vue Gueuze
  
• Bergenbier (Romania)
  
• Boddingtons (United Kingdom)
  
• Bohemia (Brazil)
  
• Borsodi Sör (Hungary)
  
• Boomerang (France)
  
• Borostyán (Hungary)
  
• Brahma (Global)
  
• Breda (The Channel Islands) Still Available  
  
• Cafri (South Korea)
  
• Caracu (Brazil)
  
• Chernigivske (Ukraine)
  
• Chernigivske Svitle
  
• Chernigivske Premium
  
• Chernigivske Mitsne
  
• Chernigivske Temne
  
• Chernigivske Bile
  
• Chernigivske Bila Nich
  
• Chernigivske Bagryane
  
• Chernigivske Fitness
  
• Diebels (Germany)
  
• Diekirch (Luxembourg)
  
• Diekirch Grand Cru
  
• Diekirch Grande Réserve
  
• Diekirch Exclusive
  
• Dimix (Germany)
  
• Dommelsch (Netherlands)
  
• Dommelsch Pilsener
  
• Dommelsch Ice
  
• Dommelsch Dominator
  
• Double Deer (China)
  
• E-Generation
  
• Premium Light
  
• Dry Beer
  
• Dutch Gold (Holland)
  
• Franziskaner Weissbier (Germany)
  
• Franziskaner Hefe-Weissbier Hell (Germany)
  
• Franziskaner Hefe-Weissbier Dunkel (Germany)
  
• Gilde Ratskeller (Germany)
  
• Guaraná Antarctica (Brazil)
  
• Guaraná Brahma (Brazil)
  
• GuoGuang (China)
  
• Haacke-Beck (Germany)
  
• Hasseröder (Germany)
  
• Hertog Jan (Netherlands)
  
• Primator
  
• Oud Bruin
  
• Grand Prestige
  
• Tripel
  
• Dubbel
  
• Winterbier
  
• Bockbier
  
• Meibock
  
• Hoegaarden (Belgium)
  
• Hougaerdse Das (Belgium)
  
• Jinlin (China)
  
• Jinlongquan (China)
  
• Draft
  
• Refreshing
  
• Julius (Belgium)
  
• Jupiler (Belgium)
  
• Jupiler N.A.
  
• Jupiler Blue
  
• KK (China)
  
• Kamenitza (Bulgaria)
  
• Klinskoye (Russia)
  
• Klinskoye Svetloye
  
• Klinskoye Zolotoye
  
• Klinskoye Lux
  
• Klinskoye Redkoye
  
• Klinskoye Arriva
  
• Klinskoye Samurai
  
• Kokanee (Canada)
  
• Kokanee
  
• Kokanee Gold
  
• Kokanee Light
  
• Kokanee Frost
  
• La Bécasse (France)
  
• La Bécasse Kriek
  
• La Bécasse Raspberry
  
• La Bécasse Gueuze
  
• Labatt Family (Canada) Acquired in 1995
  
• Labatt Blue
  
• Labatt Blue Light
  
• Labatt .5
  
• Labatt Lite
  
• Labatt 50
  
• John Labatt Classic
  
• Labatt Genuine
  
• Labatt Extra Dry Lager
  
• Labatt Wildcat
  
• Labatt Ice
  
• Labatt Sterling
  
• Lakeport (Canada)
  
• Leffe (Global)
  
• Liber (Brazil)
  
• Löwenbräu (Germany)
  
• Löwenbräu Original (Germany)
  
• Löwenbräu Oktoberfestbier (Germany)
  
• Marathon (Brazil)
  
• Mousel (Luxembourg)
  
• Pivara Trebjesa (Montenegro)
  
• Nik Cool
  
• Nik Gold
  
• Nikšicko pivo
  
• Nikšicko tamno
  
• Noroc (Romania)
  
• OB (South Korea)
  
• Oranjeboom (Netherlands)
  
• Oranjeboom Premium Pilsener
  
• Oranjeboom Oud Bruin
  
• Oranjeboom Premish Malt
  
• Original (Brasil)
  
• Permskoye Gubernskoye (Russia)
  
• Permskoye Gubernskoye Svetloye
  
• Piedboeuf (Belgium)
  
• Piedboeuf Blond
  
• Piedboeuf Brown
  
• Piedboeuf Triple
  
• Quilmes (Argentina)
  
• Red Shiliang (China)
  
• Rifey (Russia)
  
• Rogan (Ukraine)
  
• Rogan Lehke
  
• Rogan Tradytsiyne
  
• Rogan Tradytsiyne
  
• Rogan Monastyrske Temne
  
• Rogan Veselyi Monach
  
• Rogan Bezalkoholne
  
• Rogan Kampai
  
• Rogan Arriva
  
• Safir (Belgium)
  
• Santai (China)
  
• Sedrin (China)
  
• Sibirskaya Korona (Siberian Crown)(Russia)
  
• Skol (Brazil)
  
• Spaten (Germany)
  
• St. Pauli Girl (USA)
  
• St. Pauli Girl Lager
  
• St. Pauli Girl Special Dark
  
• St. Pauli Girl Non-Alcoholic
  
• Staropramen (Czech Republic)
  
• Stella Artois (Global)
  
• Artois Bock
  
• Peeterman Artois
  
• Sukita (Brazil)
  
• Taller (Ukraine)
  
• Tennent's (United Kingdom)
  
• Tennent's Super
  
• Tennent's Ember
  
• Tennent's Extra Lager
  
• Tennent's Light Ale
  
• Tennent's Pilsner
  
• Tennent's Special
  
• Tennent's Velvet Ale
  
• Tennent's Stout (Export)
  
• Tennent's 1885 Lager (Export)
  
• Tennent's Scotch Ale (Export)
  
• Tinkov Russian Lager (Russia)
  
• Tolstiak (Russia)
  
• Tolstiak Dobroye
  
• Tolstiak Svetloye
  
• Tolstiak Zaboristoye
  
• Tolstiak Krepkoye
  
• Tolstiak Grechisnoye
  
• Vieux Temps (Belgium)
  
• Wolters (Germany)
  
• Whitbread (United Kingdom)
  
• Yali (China)
  
• Yantar (Ukraine)
  
• Zagrebacka pivovara (Croatia)
  
• Božicno Pivo
  
• Ožujsko Pivo
  
• Ožujsko Cool
  
• Ožujsko Izzy
  
• Ožujsko Strong
  
• Fresssh by Ožujsko
  
• Tomislav
  
• Zizhulin (China)
  
• Zhujiang (China)