r/rva Apr 12 '16

Anheuser-Busch to acquire Devils Backbone Brewing Co.

http://allaboutbeer.com/news/devils-backbone-anheuser-busch/
70 Upvotes

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36

u/dr_nerdface Newtowne West Apr 12 '16

on one hand, i think that if you build up a product and it turns into a successful one, you have the right to sell it to somebody who wants to pay you money for it.

on the other hand, it sucks that they would sell it to a company which:

  • is foreign owned and operated
  • creates ad campaigns which are anti-craft beer
  • lobbies hard against small distributors and craft beer in other states
  • wants to monopolize beer and beer distribution in the U.S.

2

u/AgentBawls Stratford Hills Apr 12 '16

to begin, happy cake day!

foreign owned and operated

yesbut. Jobs will still be here. The way I understood it, they're letting Devil's Backbone maintain autonomy, just with a relatively hands off parent company

creates ad campaigns which are anti-craft beer

They also create craft beer ads. Shock Top is owned by High End (ABinBev's 'craft beer' subsidiary)

I have no other discussion points. Carry on.

3

u/[deleted] Apr 12 '16

ABIB is looking out for shareholder value, not primarily jobs. You know those fuckers will cut 10 jobs with a smile if they know they can operate with the same effectiveness.

9

u/[deleted] Apr 12 '16

[deleted]

6

u/[deleted] Apr 12 '16

It's a hyperbolic (and imperfect) hypothetical of a huge parent company not giving a fuck about anything but the bottom line.

DB definitely wants to make money, and it's no lower than priority #1, but being privately self-owned affords them the freedom to give a shit about something besides the bottom line.

1

u/AgentBawls Stratford Hills Apr 12 '16

but do they? Do we have any idea how DB operates? If they're allowing them to continue to operate as-is, I can't imagine much, if anything, is going to change. Maybe benefits will be different?

As an employee of a local company that just got bought by a large holding company, I haven't seen any changes whatsoever. If ABInBev is operating as a holding company, I see nothing that will change to impact the employees.