| To: richardred who wrote (3777) | 9/18/2014 9:21:00 PM | | From: richardred | | | | What timing, the day SAP makes a big acquisition.
Larry Ellison Steps Down: Succession Done Well
Sep 19 2014
Founders always have a very hard time giving up their roles as CEO.
Look at pioneering technology founders like Bill Gates of Microsoft, Andy Grove of Intel, Larry Page and Sergey Brin of Google and Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook. Each held (or still hold) onto their companies as long as they possibly can.
Why? Because successful founders define their identity around their company and often single handedly create the culture, product strategy, and marketing vision that drives success. I have personal experience in this area, so I completely understand the dynamic.
This week one of the most iconic and successful CEOs in our time, Larry Ellison, announced his decision to step down from his direct operational role running Oracle. For those of us who have been in the technology industry for years, the story of Oracle is amazing.
This company started as a small scrappy pioneer in the relational database industry back in 1977 (before relational databases were really popular). The company popularized the use of SQL for mainstream programmers and as the database industry exploded with growth, won the "database wars" against Sybase, IBM, Ingres, and Informix in the 1980s. Under Ellison's leadership, Oracle built an entire ecosystem of Oracle tools, professional developers, and applications over the years. From the very early days, Oracle essentially invented the "multi-platform" database and developed strong relationships with every major hardware manufacturer in computing (eventually acquiring Sun, one of its best partners). Ellison learned quickly that in addition to having a good product, the company needed to "own a market" by running on every platform imaginable.
As the database industry become bigger and Oracle's growth slowed, he aggressively moved the company into business application software, eventually buying a slew of applications companies to make Oracle one of the world's leaders in business software. As I followed Oracle over the years (as both a competitor, software executive, and analyst) I always marveled at Ellison's ability to spot a trend and then jump into a market when it became big, popular, and ready for global growth. Today Oracle is dominant in almost every major business software category and the company never slows down in its relentless efforts to own a market segment and penetrate large corporate accounts.
Over these 30+ years Ellison has always been a smart, aggressive, and somewhat controversial leader. Analysts believed Oracle was behind on the cloud, until Ellison made a series of announcements (Oracle 8i, 9i, 10i) which convinced the world that Oracle's products were no made for the web. While Oracle is not always first to market as technology changes, the company is an amazingly fast follower and Ellison has an amazing ability to rapidly push the company into new markets right as these markets become large. In my particular marketplace, Oracle went from a relatively small player in Human Capital software to suddenly becoming the #1 market share player through the acquisition of PeopleSoft and Taleo over the last ten years.
Ellison's decision to acquire Sun, Siebel, BEA Systems, and many other companies demonstrates his ability to deeply understand technology markets and pounce when the time is right, even when Oracle itself may not be able to innovate fast enough. In many ways Ellison's strategy has always been "if we can't develop software to be #1 in the market, we will buy the #1 in the market." This has worked again and again.
I remember meeting Ellison in the 1980s when I worked for IBM and saw his charisma up close. At that particular time IBM was rapidly growing its business in distributed unix computing systems and badly wanted Oracle to port its product to IBM's version of Unix, called AIX. Ellison painted such a compelling picture of Oracle 7 (it didn't really exist yet) to the IBM executives that IBM decided to invest heavily in Oracle and later developed a strong business partnership to help Oracle port its software to the IBM platform.
The interesting thing about this relationship is that for many years IBM and Oracle competed aggressively in the database industry, so while one part of IBM was partnering with Ellison, another part considered him a tremendous rival. IBM scientists were some of the original inventors of the SQL language and IBM executives always felt that they deserved the right to that market. Oracle did a much better job of building the right products, porting to multiple platforms, and aggressively marketing and selling the database - leaving IBM as a small player in the relational database industry.
I had the opportunity to work for one of Oracle's bitter rivals in the early 1990s (Sybase) and we always worried that Oracle would eventually "figure out" what we were doing. When they finally did, Oracle quickly and aggressively started to outsell us (pushing a story that "Sybase couldn't scale") and eventually forced Sybase to shift its product strategy away from enterprise database toward mobile and middleware products. While I never knew how much Ellison was involved, I'm sure he was beating the drum behind the scene and knew that Sybase represented an existential threat, firing up his competitive energy. Despite our best efforts to beat Oracle in the database market with new and better technology, Sybase lost that battle and eventually the war. Now SAP (who owns Sybase) can fight the battle by investing in Hana and Sybase to compete with Sun and Oracle.
Ellison's tremendously strong technology background and deep understanding of enterprise software makes him hard to beat -- and most of his competitors have either gone out of business or simply become part of Oracle after an acquisition.
This announcement is significant for several reasons. First, of course, it means that Larry Ellison will be less involved in the day-to-day operations of Oracle. But more significantly, it shows that Oracle is now mature enough and smart enough to build a long term succession plan for Ellison himself. Mark Hurd and Safra Catz, both of whom have worked for Oracle for many years now, are running the company -- and Ellison is going to play the role of chief technology officer. This puts Larry where he fits best: watching the product strategy, observing market trends, and pushing Oracle to aggressively move when the time is right.
In many ways this is the end of an era. If Ellison truly decides to step away from the company, a new breed of software leader(s) will have to emerge, and Oracle has plenty of people to take his place. To me, as someone who has grown up across the bay from Oracle and still works closely with Oracle in the human capital market, I expect the company will continue to thrive. While Oracle has plenty of challenges (as does every technology company), he has taken the time to groom new operational leaders to take his place. He has been an exceptional leader and we have all watched him grow and evolve as Oracle continued to grow.
For business people, the lessons show that sometimes strong multi-functional founders can thrive for many years. So while many companies try to replace founders at some time, in Oracle's case Ellison has been instrumental in the company's success for decades. For HR and other people, the story shows that even the strongest CEOs need a succession plan, and it often takes years to develop and groom successors that can succeed. In this case Ellison has been friends with Mark Hurd for many years and it would not be suprising to hear that this transition has been in the works for a long time.
I personally have always found Oracle to be an impressive, trend-setting company, despite its sometimes overly aggressive sales and marketing approach. The company's products are eminent around the world in almost every market, and we hope that Oracle's success continues through this transition. There are a lot of lessons to learn and stories to be told, and now that Ellison is in the chairman role it will be interesting to see how the new top executives evolve Oracle as the market for enterprise software gets hotter than ever in the cloud. SAP, Workday, Salesforce, and dozens of other fast-growing vendors now have young, aggressive leaders - Oracle is now ready to do the same.
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| To: richardred who wrote (2751) | 9/20/2014 8:33:52 AM | | From: richardred | | | | My daughters favorite beer PBR, and around here a favorite among new legal age drinkers. I don't see how this deal can go through the FTC successfully. This with the Obama's administration ban on Russian trade.
Pabst Brewing to be sold to Russian company
 Bruce Horovitz, USA TODAY 5:50 p.m. EDT September 19, 2014
(Photo: Rene Alston, USA TODAY)
12317 CONNECT 410 TWEET 8 LINKEDIN 38 COMMENTEMAILMORE
Pabst Blue Ribbon — a sub-premium beer brand that embraced savvy marketing to stay relevant in a craft beer age — has been sold, along with its parent, Pabst Brewing Co., to Russian company Oasis Beverages.
The companies declined to disclose the sale price, but beverage industry analysts estimate the sale at nearly $750 million — a figure nearly three times the estimated $250 million that C. Dean Metropoulos & Co. paid for it in 2010. Oasis Beverages' partner in the purchase is TSC Consumer Partners, a consumer products company that will take a minority stake Pabst.
Besides the familiar Pabst Blue Ribbon label, Pabst Brewing Co. makes Colt 45, Old Milwaukee and Schlitz. It also makes regional brews such as Lone Star, Rainier and Old Style.
The sales comes at a time the U.S. and the global beer industries both are dynamically evolving. In recent years, foreign beer makers have been gobbling up the big U.S. beer brands. At the same time, craft beers have become the industry's fastest-growing sector. Craft beer in the U.S. has 7.8% market share, up from about 4.9% in 2010, reports All About Beer Magazine, the nation's oldest beer consumer magazine.
Even in that environment, Pabst — a lower-priced brand that is anything but craft — has still managed to ratchet-up its popularity with the trend-setting, Millennial beer drinker.
"Pabst very successfully targeted hipsters looking for alternative brand choices," says Chris Rice, president and publisher of All About Beer Magazine. "There's a lot of crossover between the Pabst brand and craft beer drinkers."
Never mind that few other sub-premium brands have had much luck with Millennials.
Pabst Brewing has an iconic past and many baby boomers still recall the familiar, shouted slogan from its 1950s-era commercials: "What'll You Have? Pabst Blue Ribbon."
More recently, Pabst Brewing has embraced pop culture. In 2011, comedian Will Ferrell showed up in its Old Milwaukee beer ads, and in 2010, hip-hop icon Snoop Dogg starred in a Blast by Colt 45 commercial.
Pabst was acquired in 2010 by C. Dean Metropoulos & Co., which is known for investing in food brands, including Twinkie maker Hostess.
Pabst Brewing traces its roots back to 1844 in Milwaukee. Pabst Blue Ribbon in particular has also grown in popularity among people in their 20s and 30s in part for its blue-collar and retro appeal, as well as for its cheap price.
Still, Pabst accounts for less than 3% of the U.S. beer market, said Eric Shepard, executive editor of Beer Marketer's Insights, an industry tracker. He also noted that many of the most popular beers in the U.S. are already owned by foreign companies. Anheuser-Busch InBev, which makes Budweiser and Bud Light, is based in Belgium.
In a statement, Oasis Chairman Eugene Kashper called Pabst Blue Ribbon the "quintessential American brand — it represents individualism, egalitarianism and freedom of expression — all the things that make this country great."
Kashper will serve as CEO of Pabst Brewing, which will keep its headquarters in Los Angeles.
Contributing: Associated Press
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| To: richardred who wrote (3779) | 9/20/2014 8:50:53 AM | | From: richardred | | | | The PBR deal has me thinking if it fails. The company it might be a good addition for STZ. I also think STZ would be a good Buffett fit.
P.S. Constallation Brands, formally Canandaigua Wine Co. is why I started investing back in high school. |
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| From: Glenn Petersen | 9/21/2014 10:59:58 PM | | | | | | | Siemens Agrees to Buy Dresser-Rand, an Oil Services Company, for $7.6 Billion
By David Gelles
DealBook
New York Times
September 21, 2014 10:23 pm
Siemens, the German engineering conglomerate, announced late Sunday a deal for the Dresser-Rand Group, an oil products and services company.
The deal, worth about $7.6 billion, including the assumption of debt, gives Siemens prominence in the American energy sector, which is booming as new reserves of oil and natural gas are tapped through unconventional drilling techniques.
Dresser-Rand has been fielding inquiries from potential buyers in recent months and hired advisers to vet the bids. But Siemens beat out other suitors with an all-cash bid of $83 a share.
“Dresser-Rand is a perfect fit for the Siemens portfolio,” said Joe Kaeser, chief executive of Siemens.
He added, “With this, Dresser-Rand will become the oil and gas company within Siemens.”
Other companies that had been pursuing a deal included Sulzer, the Swiss pump maker, which acknowledged it was in talks with Dresser-Rand last week. General Electric was reported to be considering a bid for Dresser-Rand as well, but people briefed on G.E.’s plans said the company was never in serious discussions about making an offer.
Winning the bidding war for Dresser-Rand would be a win for Mr. Kaeser. This summer, Siemens lost out to G.E. for the energy assets being sold by Alstom, the French industrial group. Siemens already makes some products and equipment for the United States energy sector, including a range of gas turbines.
But in acquiring Dresser-Rand, based in Houston, Siemens is expanding its exposure to the industry as technology for the extraction method called hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, opens huge swaths of land to drilling.
Siemens, with a market value of nearly $85 billion, is a vastly larger company than Dresser-Rand, whose products it will sell through its sales operation.
In a separate deal also announced Sunday, Siemens will sell its 50 percent stake in a household appliances joint venture with Robert Bosch GmbH for 3 billion euros ($3.85 billion).
dealbook.nytimes.com |
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| To: richardred who wrote (3538) | 9/22/2014 8:41:58 AM | | From: richardred | | | | Merck of Germany makes it's move on a merger Monday. SIAL, One of my past moneymakers
Merck of Germany to Acquire Sigma-Aldrich for $17 Billion
By Chad Bray September 22, 2014 6:31 amSeptember 22, 2014 6:31 am
LONDON – Merck of Germany said on Monday that it had agreed to acquire the life sciences company Sigma-Aldrich for $17 billion.
The deal is expected to increase Merck’s presence in North America and give it added exposure to markets in Asia.
Merck, the German chemical and pharmaceutical company, will acquire all of the outstanding shares of Sigma-Aldrich for $140 a share in cash, representing a 37 percent premium on the company’s closing price from Friday. The deal values Sigma Aldrich at about $17 billion.
Merck described the transaction as a “quantum leap” for its life sciences business.
“The combination of Merck and Sigma-Aldrich will secure stable growth and profitability in an industry that is driven by trends such as the globalization of research and manufacturing,” Karl-Ludwig Kley, Merck’s executive chairman, said in a statement.
Merck, based in Darmstadt, Germany, expects to achieve annual cost savings of about 260 million euros, or about $333 million, within three years of completing the deal.
Sigma-Aldrich’s board of directors has unanimously approved the deal, which requires shareholder and regulatory approval.
The transaction is expected to close in mid-2015.
Sigma-Aldrich, based in St. Louis, Mo., produces more than 230,000 chemicals and other products that are used in research and a variety of industrial and commercial sectors. It posted sales of $2.7 billion in 2013 and employs about 9,000 people in 37 countries worldwide.
Merck, which operates under the EMD brand in the United States and Canada, manufactures products for the pharmaceutical and chemical sectors. It posted revenue of about €11.1 billion in 2013 and employs about 39,000 people in 66 countries worldwide.
Guggenheim Securities and JPMorgan Chase and the law firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom advised Merck, while Morgan Stanley and the law firm Sidley Austin acted as advisers to Sigma-Aldrich.
dealbook.nytimes.com |
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| To: richardred who wrote (3399) | 9/22/2014 8:54:03 AM | | From: richardred | | | | RE-IEC speculative appeal upped today. IMO The company needs a consolidation to eliminate weak competitors and increase margins for a parent company.
TTM Technologies, Inc. to Acquire Viasystems Group, Inc.
TTM Technologies 1 hour ago GlobeNewswire
Combination Creates One of the World's Leading PCB Manufacturers Transaction Expected to be Materially Accretive in the First Year
COSTA MESA, Calif. and ST. LOUIS, Sept. 22, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- TTM Technologies, Inc. ( TTMI) ("TTM") and Viasystems Group, Inc. ( VIAS) ("Viasystems") today announced the execution of a definitive agreement under which TTM will acquire all outstanding shares of Viasystems for a combined consideration of $11.33 in cash and 0.706 shares of TTM common stock, which based on the closing market price on September 19, 2014 was valued at $16.46 per Viasystems share, or approximately $368 million. The total enterprise value of the transaction, including the assumption of debt, is approximately $927 million.
The combined company will be one of the world's leading printed circuit board ("PCB") manufacturers with a strong position in the automotive, aerospace and defense, medical, industrial and instrumentation, cellular phone and networking/telecom end markets. The combined company will have approximately 30,000 employees and 28 manufacturing facilities worldwide.
"Both TTM and Viasystems have pursued successful strategies over the years, and we are excited to bring these two companies together," said Tom Edman, CEO of TTM. "This combination creates an industry leader with the ability to deliver expanded capabilities from a broad global footprint to service more customers and end markets. In one step, we will accelerate our strategy to diversify our business and also reduce the impact of seasonality inherent in the cellular phone end market. We believe that the combination will result in significant synergies created by expanded capabilities and economies of scale that will benefit the customers, employees and shareholders of both companies."
"This is a compelling strategic combination that makes for an exciting new chapter for Viasystems," said David M. Sindelar, CEO of Viasystems. "The combination of these two companies will create one of the best management teams in the industry. I believe this combination is an excellent opportunity to realize value for our shareholders and creates new opportunities for our customers and employees."
Strategic Rationale
The acquisition of Viasystems is expected to provide a number of benefits to TTM:
Accelerating entry into the automotive industry, an end market that offers diversification, while expanding TTM's presence in the medical, industrial and instrumentation, and aerospace and defense segments.
Providing a global footprint that serves as a foundation for future growth by utilizing the complementary strengths of the combined company in North America and China.
Increasing TTM's customer and end market diversity, positioning the combined company for further long-term growth.
Providing a unique opportunity to achieve industry-leading financial performance, create significant value for customers and shareholders, and provide greater opportunities for employees. Terms of the Transaction and Financial Highlights
Viasystems shareholders will receive per share consideration equal to $11.33 in cash and 0.706 shares of TTM common stock for each Viasystems share.
In the twelve months ended June 30, 2014, the combined company would have generated pro forma revenues of $2.5 billion and adjusted EBITDA of $300 million. For a reconciliation of adjusted EBITDA to GAAP net income, see Appendix A to TTM's presentation filed as Exhibit 99.2 to TTM's Current Report on Form 8-K filed on September 22, 2014.
TTM has identified at least $25 million in pre-tax cost synergies which are expected to be realized within the first year. These will result from combining the sales and general and administrative functions of the two companies. TTM believes that significant additional synergies will result from other integration efforts over a longer period of time. This transaction is expected to be materially accretive to non-GAAP earnings per share in the first year.
TTM expects to utilize a new $1.3 billion senior secured credit facility to finance the cash portion of the purchase price, refinance certain debt at each company, and provide liquidity for working capital and general corporate purposes. TTM has received a fully-underwritten financing commitment from J.P. Morgan and Barclays to finance the transaction.
The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory approvals and approval by the shareholders of Viasystems. The transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2015. J.P. Morgan acted as financial advisor for TTM, and Stifel acted as financial advisor for Viasystems.
Investor Conference Call and Webcast
TTM and Viasystems will host a joint conference call on Monday, September 22, 2014 at 8:30 AM Eastern Time to discuss the combination.
Interested parties can listen to the conference call and view accompanying slides via webcast at www.ttmtech.com and www.viasystems.com. The call can also be accessed over the phone by dialing domestic 1-877-397-0286 or international 1-719-325-4747 (ID 1521508).
The replay of the webcast will remain accessible for one week following the live event on TTM's website at www.ttmtech.com and Viasystems' website at www.viasystems.com.
About TTM
TTM Technologies, Inc. is a major global PCB manufacturer, focusing on quick-turn and technologically advanced PCBs and the backplane and sub-system assembly business. TTM stands for time-to-market, representing how TTM's time-critical, one-stop manufacturing services enable customers to shorten the time required to develop new products and bring them to market. Additional information can be found at www.ttmtech.com.
About Viasystems
Viasystems Group, Inc. is a technology leader and a worldwide provider of complex multi-layer PCBs and electro-mechanical solutions ("E-M Solutions"). Its PCBs serve as the "electronic backbone" of almost all electronic equipment, and its E-M Solutions products and services include integration of PCBs and other components into finished or semi-finished electronic equipment, for which it also provides custom and standard metal enclosures, cabinets, racks and sub-racks, backplanes and busbars. Viasystems' approximately 14,800 employees around the world serve over 1,000 customers in the automotive, industrial and instrumentation, computer and data communications, telecommunications, and military and aerospace end markets. For additional information about Viasystems, please visit the company's website at www.viasystems.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements in this communication may constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements relate to a variety of matters, including but not limited to: the operations of the businesses of TTM and Viasystems separately and as a combined entity; the timing and consummation of the proposed merger; the expected benefits of the integration of the two companies; the combined company's plans, objectives, expectations and intentions; and other statements that are not historical fact. These statements are made on the basis of the current beliefs, expectations and assumptions of the management of TTM and Viasystems regarding future events and are subject to significant risks and uncertainty. Statements regarding TTM's and Viasystems' expected performance in the future are forward-looking statements.
It is uncertain whether any of the events anticipated by the forward-looking statements will transpire or occur, or if any of them do, what impact they will have on the results of operations and financial condition of the combined company or the price of Viasystems' or TTM's common stock. These forward-looking statements involve certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated in such forward-looking statements, including but not limited to: the ability of the parties to consummate the proposed merger and the satisfaction of the conditions precedent to consummation of the proposed merger, including the ability to secure regulatory approvals in a timely manner or at all; the adoption of the Merger Agreement by Viasystems' stockholders; the possibility of legal or regulatory proceedings (including related to the transaction itself); the ability of TTM to successfully integrate Viasystems' operations, product lines, technology and employees and realize synergies and additional opportunities for growth from the proposed merger in a timely manner or at all; unknown, underestimated or undisclosed commitments or liabilities; the potential impact of the announcement or consummation of the proposed transactions on the parties' relationships with third parties, which may make it more difficult to maintain business and operational relationships; the level of demand for the combined company's products, which is subject to many factors, including uncertain global economic and industry conditions, demand for electronic products and printed circuit boards, and customers' new technology and capacity requirements; TTM's and Viasystems' ability to (i) develop, deliver and support a broad range of products, expand their markets and develop new markets, (ii) timely align their cost structures with business conditions, and (iii) attract, motivate and retain key employees; and developments beyond Viasystems' or TTM's control, including but not limited to, changes in domestic or global economic conditions, competitive conditions and consumer preferences, adverse weather conditions or natural disasters, health concerns, international, political or military developments, and technological developments. Additional factors that may cause results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements are set forth in the Annual Report on Form 10-K of TTM Technologies, Inc. for the year ended December 30, 2013, which was filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") on February 21, 2014, under the heading "Item 1A. Risk Factors" and in the Annual Report on Form 10-K of Viasystems for the year ended December 31, 2013, which was filed with the SEC on February 14, 2014, under the heading "Item 1A. Risk Factors," and in each company's other filings made with the SEC available at the SEC's website at www.sec.gov.
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| To: The Ox who wrote (3697) | 9/22/2014 9:08:52 AM | | From: richardred | | | | | Two big ones on Monday by Merck and Germany and Siemens. IMO By the time congress acts The foreign owned companies will do it for them. |
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| To: richardred who wrote (3780) | 9/22/2014 12:09:54 PM | | From: richardred | | | | Beer Industry Witnesses Another Round of Consolidation
By Zacks Equity Research 5 minutes ago
A lot has been happening in the global brewing industry which is hinting at another round of consolidation. After the rumor of a possible acquisition of SABMiller plc ( SBMRY) by Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV ( BUD) aka AB InBev, The Wall Street Journal last week reported that a Russian company is acquiring American sub-premium craft beer maker, Pabst Brewing Company.
As per the news sources, Russia’s biggest independent brewer, Oasis Beverages has partnered with a California-based private-equity firm, TSG Consumer Partners LLC, to acquire Pabst Brewing Company. As per the agreement, Oasis Beverages will be entitled for a majority stake while TSG will take a minority stake in the craft beer company. The Wall Street Journal anticipates the deal to range between $700 million and $750 million.
Founded by Jacob Best in 1844, the Pabst Brewing Company was named after Frederick Pabst in 1889. The company is currently owned by a consumer-products investor C. Dean Metropoulos & Co., who had acquired it in 2010 for $250 million from a charitable foundation. Currently, the company with its over two dozen brands accounts for nearly 3% of the U.S. beer market.
Oasis Beverages’ recent move exhibits its intent to enhance operations in the U.S. alcoholic-beverage market. The company currently operates in Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Ukraine.
We have noticed that the alcoholic beverage industry has been witnessing major consolidation in recent times. All the companies are taking utmost efforts to increase their share in this matured U.S. beer market and in other global markets either through merger & acquisition or by expanding into new regions.
Earlier, Bloomberg, on Sep 14 reported that SABMiller approached Heineken NV ( HEINY) with a buyout offer which was rejected by the later. It is believed that the acquisition offer made by SABMiller was to defend itself from AB InBev’s takeover bid.
Some other important acquisitions made in 2014 include the buyout of Beam Inc. in January by Japanese beverage company, Suntory Holdings Ltd., for a sum of $16 billion. Subsequently, AB InBev, in order to strengthen its position in the Asia-Pacific region, reacquired its South Korean asset – Oriental Brewery – for a sum of $5.8 billion from KKR and Affinity Equity Partners. Further, Constellation Brands Inc. ( STZ) is anticipated to close its pending acquisition of Casa Noble, a premium quality tequila brand, by the end of this month.
We expect the consolidation trend that has spread across the beer industry to continue as this will not only facilitate the companies in increasing their market share but will also help in reducing costs through leverage from suppliers and distributors.
Further, presence of large amounts of cash on corporate balance sheets, favorable credit markets, low interest rates, and strength in the stock market have also acted as confidence boosters for the companies.
Looking at the share movement of both the buyer and seller companies after any merger & acquisition news, we believe that shareholders extend full support to big acquisitions so that the companies can beef up their market presence amid rampant consolidation.
Therefore, looking at the recent developments, we suggest our investors to add and hold some alcoholic-beverage companies to their portfolio. Apart from AB InBev, Boston Beer Company ( SAM) and Molson Coors Brewing Company ( TAP) are the premium beer makers which show huge growth potential as both the companies are making efforts to expand.
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