Post by Tom BiasiPost by JoergFolks,
http://www.homebrewtalk.com/anheuser-busch-inbev-acquires-northern-
brewer-midwest-supplies.html
Post by Tom BiasiMaybe grain and hop prices will go down. Who knows.
I think in the short term, it won't make much difference. In the longer
run, it's harder to predict.
I think one big risk when big companies take over much smaller ones
which aren't part of the core business is the institution of corporate
edicts which don't mesh well with the outlying units.
So if an airline takes over a small bus company, you might have rules
about training imposed on the bus drivers which only make sense for
pilots, and the bus managers are so far down the totem pole that they
can't get anyone at the corporate HQ to listen why it's a mistake.
You run the risk that someday some marketing VP at the brewing business
sees a chance to get the homebrewing business to push Limearita beer and
starts throwing his weight around to make it happen.
Another risk is that one CFO backs a big expansion plan for the
homebrewing supply side, but one year into the plan a new CFO takes
over, and suddenly everything is cut because the new CFO is focused on
cutting headcount and makes some arbitrary decisions to eliminate jobs
which aren't immediately associate with a revenue stream.
It's possible none of this happens, of course. Sometimes relatively
small units within a corporation are so out of the mainstream that
nobody at corporate HQ even really notices they're out there, and
autonomy is preserved. And sometimes there's freedom from struggles to
raise capital that make the small unit really thrive. I will say it's
an pretty unexpected move, in my opinion.