UPDATE 4-No answer from Anheuser board but pressure grows
(Updates with comments, background; changes headline)
NEW YORK, June 20 (Reuters) - The board of Anheuser-Busch Cos Inc (BUD.N) met officially for the first time on Friday since the U.S. brewer received a $46.3 billion unsolicited takeover bid from InBev NV INTB.BR, but it made no response.
Industry experts and analysts had been expecting the maker of Budweiser and Michelob to play for time, as it seeks alternative options or a higher bid price.
"No surprises there," said Harry Schuhmacher, publisher of Beer Business Daily. "I think time is what A-B needs, so it really behooves them to stonewall as long as they can."
As the board considers its options -- which analysts say could include trying to sell non-core assets, implementing a cost-cutting or restructuring plan, buying the half of brewer Grupo Modelo (GMODELOC.MX) it does not own or softly rejecting the bid to court a higher one -- pressure is growing.
Adolphus A. Busch IV, an uncle of Chief Executive August A. Busch IV and a company shareholder, sent a letter to the board on Friday urging it to "commence negotiations with InBev in order to bring about this deal and allow the shareholders to receive the price proposed by InBev."
The $65-per-share bid, representing a 24 percent premium to its share price the day before reports on merger talks surfaced, tops Anheuser shares' all-time high. That makes it difficult for Anheuser to argue that it can match the value of InBev's bid on its own, said Morningstar analyst Ann Gilpin.
Reports have surfaced that Anheuser is in talks with Modelo, which makes Corona beer, about buying the Mexican brewer outright to make itself too big for InBev to swallow. Reports have also surfaced that InBev has reached out to Modelo, assuring it that if InBev took over Anheuser, it would let Modelo decide its own fate.
In a sign that such talks are indeed taking place, Modelo's chief executive, Carlos Fernandez, resigned from Anheuser's board of directors on Friday, where he has had a seat since 1996. A Modelo spokeswoman said the decision by Fernandez was "to avoid any appearance of a conflict (of interest)."
Gilpin said she believes Fernandez's interests lie first with Modelo and secondly with Anheuser-Busch.
"Given that Grupo Modelo is going to potentially play a key role in whether Anheuser-Busch stays independent or not, I think he (Fernandez) would rather be representing the interests of Grupo Modelo," Gilpin said.
EROSION OF TIES
Fernandez's departure may also signal "a further erosion" of ties between Anheuser's founding Busch family and Modelo's founding Fernandez family, according to Louis Capital Markets analyst Robbert van Batenburg, who noted that the relationship between the two dynasties has deteriorated over the years since Anheuser bought its stake in Modelo in 1993.
That makes a Modelo sell-out to Anheuser unlikely, analysts say.
InBev has said publicly it is committed to a friendly combination. Analysts, who say the deal price could approach $70 per share, have said InBev could sweeten the bid to gain support from the Busch family or to be more in line with recent acquisitions that had richer valuations.
Anheuser, whose shares have been flat for five years, has been punished over the years by Wall Street, in part for its keen focus on the mature U.S. market, where beer sales are slowing. It said on Friday it would take over a joint venture it formed last year to bring Budweiser to southern and western India. Terms were not disclosed.
In Adolphus Busch's letter to the board, he said InBev's offer provided opportunity for Anheuser brands to compete globally.
InBev, which is based in Belgium but has a Brazilian management team known for aggressive cost-cutting, has sparked an outcry among U.S. and local politicians who fear the future under InBev of what they call an "iconic" American company.
To allay these concerns, InBev promised Budweiser would be the flagship brand of the combined company, that the new company's name would reflect "the Anheuser-Busch heritage" and that the North American headquarters would be in St. Louis. (Additional reporting by Cyntia Barrera Diaz in Mexico City; Editing by Gerald E. McCormick/Steve Orlofsky/Braden Reddall)
