Anheuser talks merger with Grupo Modelo
American brewer enters talks with Mexican peer perhaps in attempt to stave off takeover by Belgian InBev, according to the Wall Street Journal.
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Anheuser-Busch has entered preliminary merger talks with Mexican brewery Grupo Modelo, according to a report from the Wall Street Journal Thursday.
A merger between the two companies could help the American brewing company hold off Belgian beer maker InBev's $46.3 billion unsolicited takeover bid that was announced Wednesday.
According to the Journal report, Anheuser-Bush approached Grupo Modelo about a deal in the past couple weeks, as rumors began to surface about a possible InBev offer. The $65-a-share bid came two weeks after the Financial Times reported InBev, brewer of Beck's, Bass and Stella Artois, was weighing a possible offer, driven in part by the strength of the euro against the dollar and the presence of a pro-merger administration in Washington.
The St. Louis-based Anheuser-Busch (BUD, Fortune 500) already owns about a 50% stake in the Mexican company, which makes Corona-brand beers.
Anheuser said Wednesday its board "will evaluate the proposal carefully and in the context of all relevant factors, including Anheuser-Busch's long-term strategic plan." The company said it expects the board to make a decision "in due course," though top members of the Busch family that have run the company for generations have said they don't want to sell.
Shares of Anheuser-Busch fell about 1% in after-hours trading. 
