defa14a
UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
SCHEDULE 14A
(Rule 14A-101)
PROXY STATEMENT PURSUANT TO SECTION 14(a)
OF THE SECURITIES
EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
Filed by the Registrant þ
Filed by a Party other than the Registrant o
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Preliminary Proxy Statement |
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Confidential, for Use of the Commission Only (as permitted by Rule 14a-6(e)(2)) |
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Soliciting Material Pursuant to §240.14a-12 |
Anheuser-Busch Companies, Inc.
(Name of Registrant as Specified In Its Charter)
(Name of Person(s) Filing Proxy Statement, if other than the Registrant)
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On August 16, 2008, David A. Peacock, Vice President-Marketing of Anheuser-Busch, Inc., issued
the e-mail set forth below to the employees of Anheuser-Busch Companies, Inc.
August 16, 2008
To: All Anheuser-Busch Employees
Members of the integration team met this week with the Steering Committee to
continue work on preparatory workstreams for the combination of Anheuser-Busch
and InBev.
The Steering Committee is comprised of two InBev board members, Marcel Telles
and Peter Harf, Brito and an adviser, former Gillette CEO Jim Kilts, who
oversaw the merger of P&G and Gillette. The group reviewed the structure of
the integration team, the key activities planned, milestones and the ways in
which Bain Consulting and the legal advisers will support the work being done
in order to ensure that all exchanges of data prior to closing comply with
information sharing guidelines. The meeting went well and the next steering
team meeting will be in 2 weeks.
Another step was also taken Friday with Anheuser-Buschs filing of our
preliminary proxy statement relating to the proposed merger with the U.S.
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). This might generate additional news
coverage.
The statement notifies Anheuser-Busch shareholders that there will be a special
shareholders meeting to consider and vote on the merger and encourages them to
vote by proxy (by phone, mail or Internet) in advance, regardless of whether
they plan to attend the meeting. Once we receive clearance from the SEC, the
definitive proxy statement containing the date and location of the special
meeting will be mailed to all Anheuser-Busch shareholders. Meanwhile, InBev is
preparing for its extraordinary general meeting of shareholders, with timing to
be announced shortly.
The Anheuser-Busch preliminary proxy statement also provides shareholders with
more information about the merger agreement, answering some questions about the
process.
Included are more details about the special 2008 integration bonuses for 60
employees and the special 2009 integration bonuses and enhanced severance for
360 employees, including the 60. We have received many questions from
employees asking who is included and when they will be notified. The 360
people are I and J Band employees and the officers of the company. All will be
notified of their inclusion in these programs. These special compensations are
designed to retain leaders in our company as is customary with merger
agreements.
These special compensations are also tied to Blue Ocean performance objectives.
Tim Farrell announced the Enhanced Retirement Program earlier this week, and
employees are eager to know their place in the future organization, or about
any additional staff reductions, particularly in light of these Blue Ocean
objectives. Please keep in mind that Blue Ocean is much more than a personnel
initiative, it is a comprehensive program that relies on ideas of employees at
all levels to find new ways to improve productivity, eliminate unneeded
processes and costs,
reduce energy and water use and improve our business
overall. Our planned staff reductions are expected to be between 10 and 15
percent of our salaried workforce and will be primarily achieved by the ERP,
attrition and not filling open positions.
In addition to August Busch IVs new position on the InBev board of directors
after closing, InBev intends to enter into a consulting agreement with him
through 2013 to benefit from his expertise and knowledge of the U.S. market and
the Anheuser-Busch business. As outlined in the preliminary proxy statement,
August will provide support to the new company from time to time in multiple
areas in the U.S. business, including relationships with wholesalers, the
community and charitable organizations.
The integration team continues to have productive meetings with our InBev
counterparts, Brito and Bain, all helping to move the process forward quickly,
but thoroughly. Please remember that, until closing, Anheuser-Busch and InBev
remain competitors. We cannot make decisions or participate in making
decisions that affect the other companys current business operations except as
related to our existing U.S. import agreement or our ongoing international
operations with InBev in Canada and South Korea. Interactions with InBev
should occur only through the integration teams.
We will keep you updated regularly on milestones in this process and as new
information becomes available. If you have any questions, please feel free to
send to this e-mail address: abcomm@anheuser-busch.com. Thank you for your
continued focus on the business and delivering outstanding sales results for
the company this summer.
Dave Peacock
This communication may be deemed to be solicitation material in respect of the proposed
acquisition of Anheuser-Busch by InBev. In connection with the proposed acquisition, InBev and
Anheuser-Busch intend to file relevant materials with the SEC. Anheuser-Busch filed a preliminary
proxy statement on Schedule 14A with the SEC on August 14, 2008.
INVESTORS OF ANHEUSER-BUSCH ARE URGED TO READ ALL RELEVANT DOCUMENTS FILED WITH THE SEC,
INCLUDING ANHEUSER-BUSCHS PROXY STATEMENT, BECAUSE THEY WILL CONTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT
THE PROPOSED TRANSACTION.
Investors and security holders will be able to obtain the documents free of charge through the
website maintained by the SEC at www.sec.gov, and Anheuser-Busch stockholders will receive
information at an appropriate time on how to obtain transaction-related documents for free from
Anheuser-Busch. Such documents are not currently available.
InBev and certain of its directors and executive officers and other persons, and
Anheuser-Busch and its directors and certain executive officers, may be deemed to be participants
in the solicitation of proxies from the holders of Anheuser-Busch common stock in respect of the
proposed transaction. Information about the directors and executive officers of Anheuser-Busch and
their respective interests in Anheuser-Busch by security holdings or otherwise is set forth in its
proxy statement relating to the 2008 annual meeting of stockholders, which was filed with the SEC
on March 10, 2008. Investors may obtain additional information regarding the interest of the
participants by reading the preliminary proxy statement.