Anheuser-Busch InBev

Stock performance

History

AB InBev traces its brewing roots to the Den Hoorn brewery in Leuven, dating back to 1366, but the modern company is the product of a string of mergers: Belgium's Artois and Piedboeuf combined to form Interbrew in 1987, Interbrew merged with Brazil's AmBev in 2004 to create InBev, and InBev bought Anheuser-Busch of St. Louis for about $52 billion in 2008. The 2016 takeover of SABMiller, one of the largest corporate acquisitions in history, completed its transformation into the world's dominant brewer.

Business model

The company owns a portfolio of global brands (Budweiser, Stella Artois, Corona outside the US, Michelob Ultra) alongside hundreds of local beers, and runs them with a famously cost-focused operating model built around zero-based budgeting inherited from its Brazilian controlling shareholders. Scale in purchasing, distribution, and marketing lets it earn margins well above most brewing rivals, though the SABMiller deal left it carrying a heavy debt load that it has spent years paying down.

Market position

AB InBev brews roughly a quarter of the world's beer and leads in many of the largest profit pools, including the US, Mexico, Brazil, Colombia, and South Africa, ahead of Heineken, Carlsberg, and Asahi. Its US business was hit by the 2023 consumer boycott of Bud Light, which cost the brand its long-held top spot, while premium brands and growth markets in Latin America and Africa have become more important to earnings.

Country impact

AB InBev is Belgium's most valuable listed company and gives a country of under 12 million people the headquarters of a genuine global consumer giant, along with a symbolic link to Belgium's centuries-old brewing culture. Its listing on Euronext Brussels makes it the heavyweight of the BEL 20 index, so its share price and debt refinancing decisions noticeably move the Belgian equity market.