An Attempt at the Least Popular Post of All Time

In case anyone in Missouri has been living under a rock recently, let me bring you up to speed. European beer giant InBev has made an unsolicited bid to buy St. Louis icon Anheuser-Busch for the small sum of $46.3 billion. As a native St. Louisian, and also a believer in free markets, my heart is really torn. As is the case with most Missourians, I believe St. Louis and Anheuser-Busch should and will be forever linked, but ultimately I trust in the free market and concede that a buyout may be in the best interest of both corporations. However, there has been some chatter that local and federal government officials may try to intervene to stop a local landmark from entering foreign hands.

Although I can understand where they are coming from (securing local jobs, pandering to voters, etc.) this blatant act of government interference is unnecessary and quite ridiculous. This is a possible acquisition between two publicly traded companies, and for government officials to even suggest impeding the process is outlandish. Officials even acknowledge there is nothing they can lawfully do, yet they insist on causing a commotion in hopes that InBev will retract its offer and ride off into the figurative sunset. There is no doubt that Anheuser-Busch has played an influential and charitable role in the development of St. Louis, but after all, it is a private corporation and if it decides selling to InBev is in the best interest of shareholders, no government official should try to obstruct the process. It is not the responsibility of government officials to determine what is best for a private entity, and they are grossly overstepping their boundaries in attempting to influence the outcome of this particular situation.

Personally, I hope the shareholders of Anheuser-Busch reject the offer and the organization remains a pillar of stability in St. Louis and throughout Missouri. After all, InBev Stadium just doesn’t have the same ring. With that said, if stockholders agree to a sale and the government continues to try invoking its (phantom) power to affect the outcome, it will just be another case of the government acting inappropriately and out of its realm of authority.

Ah … the politicking that takes place during an election year.