is the largest beer company in the world and is the result of a 2008 hostile takeover of the American brewing giant Anheuser-Busch by the Belgian beer company InBev. See anheuser-busch, inbev.

In late June of 2008, InBev made an offer of $65 per share to acquire Anheuser-Busch. That offer was quickly rejected by A-B. After contentious negotiations and maneuvering over the subsequent 2 weeks, InBev increased their offer to $70 per share, which was accepted by the shareholders of Anheuser-Busch in mid-July of 2008. The total price InBev paid for A-B was approximately $52 billion.

Anheuser-Busch InBev (ABI) had combined revenues of $36.8 billion in 2009 and employs 120,000 people worldwide. The company maintains its headquarters in Leuven, Belgium. ABI stock is traded on the Euronext Stock Exchange (Ticker: ABI) in Brussels and they have a secondary listing on the New York Stock Exchange (Ticker: BUD).

As of early 2011, the CEO is Carlos Brito, originally from Brazil. He joined AmBev in 1989 and became the head of that company in 2004. After the AmBev/Interbrew merger in August 2004, he headed the North America division before becoming CEO of InBev in December of 2005, a position he retained in the restructured ABI.

The company divides their international business into six “operational zones,” which consist of North America, Latin America north, Latin America south, western Europe, central and eastern Europe, and Asia. The company owns and operates 152 beverage plants worldwide, including 138 breweries in 15 counties. Of those, 19 are in North America, 55 in South America, 39 in Europe, and 35 in Asia.

ABI owns over 200 brands of beer, which they market in 30 nations. They have the number one market share in at least 10 countries, are second in 10 more, and are number three in 5.

They consider three of their most popular brands to be global: Beck’s, Budweiser, and Stella Artois. They characterize Belgian brands Hoegaarden and Leffe as multicountry brands and refer to Brahma (popular Brazilian beer available in 20 countries), Bud Light (accounting for half of US light beer sales), Chernigivske (the most popular beer in the Ukraine), Harbin (a Chinese brand), Jupiler (Belgium’s most popular beer), Klinskoye (the second best-selling Russian beer), Michelob (the fourth best-selling American premium beer), Quilmes (Argentina’s best-selling beer), Sedrin (another Chinese brand), Siberian Crown (a popular Russian brand), and Skol (the best-selling Brazilian beer and fourth in the world) as “local jewels.”

Other familiar brands ABI owns include Alexander Keith, Antarctica, Bass, Belle Vue, Boddingtons, Bohemia, Diebels, Franziskaner, Labatt, Kokanee, Löwenbräu, Oranjeboom, Spaten, Staropramen, and St Pauli Girl.

In the UK, ABI also has licensing or exclusive bottling agreements for Castlemaine XXXX, Estrella-Damm, and Tennent’s.

In addition to their own breweries, ABI also has a 50% equity interest in the operating subsidiary of Mexico’s largest beer company, Grupo Modelo, makers of the popular Corona beer.