Does InBev's $52 billion purchase of Anheuser Busch have impact on Chinese investors? Not really. The five largest beer companies in china are (in order) China Resources Snow Brewery, Tsingtao Brewery, Yanjing Brewery, and Anheuser-Busch.A-B does own 27% stake of Tsingtao and 100% of Harbin Brewery. I wouldn't rush out and invest in InBev, but the Chinese brewers are worth a look.

Siemens Slashes Jobs; Southwest Cozies Up to Canada; VMWare Axes CEO; Office Depot Drops on Dismal Sales; Oil Drops $10 in a Week; Fed’s New Lending Restrictions; Anheuser Busch Sues InBev; ConocoPhilips Strikes Deal with Abu Dhabi Siemens AG (ADR: SI) announced yesterday (Tuesday) that it would eliminate almost 17,000 positions to prepare for a global economic downturn. The Germany-based industrial giant hopes to achieve $1.9 billion (1.2 billion euros) in cost savings by 2010. Chief Executive Peter Loescher said Siemens needed to be faster, more efficient and have a leaner administration if it hoped to compete, Reuters reported. Southwest Airlines Co. (LUV) and Canada-based WestJet Airlines Ltd. yesterday (Tuesday) announced a marketing alliance that is planned to go into effect in 2009. “This gives WestJet exactly what they need in terms of growing their trans-border ...

Report: Toyota Plunking $1 Billion on Brazil Plant; India Housing Boom Ending; GDP Revised Up; Home Sales Rise, Values Fall; Anheuser Busch to Reject InBev Bid; Bank of America Sheds Jobs; Gold Shares Glow; Oshkosh Plunges on Lowered Outlook Toyota Motor Corp. (ADR: TM) plans to drop more than $1 billion on a new factory in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Valor Economico reported without citing a source. The new factory would be a bid to capture a share of the economic growth and rising incomes in South America. A pair of mortgage executives in India said the country’s five-year property boom is coming to an end as the number of available homes increases along with interest rates. "Due to the state of the equity markets, many investors who would have bought a second or a third house ...

Skinny Nutritional Corp. (SNKY.OB) has signed new agreements with three of the largest beverage distributors in the state of Minnesota. The deals bring Skinny Water, a new, zero-calorie, multi-functional water, to a market of five million Minnesota consumers, including the Minneapolis market, the largest city in the state. Skinny now has four Anheuser-Busch distributors as part of its distribution expansion to work with beer wholesalers around the country.

Capitol Beverage Sales, L.P, Minneapolis; Thorpe Distributing Company, Rogers, Minn.; and College City Beverage, Dundas, Minn., will be carrying all five Skinny Water flavors — and distributing them to consumers through thousands of distribution points, including convenience stores, grocery stores, drugstores, work-out facilities, salons, and spas throughout the state.

“Beer distributors across America want to carry more non-alcoholic premium products, and tapping into the demand for Skinny Water is a great way to do that,” says Don McDonald, president and CEO of

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Recently, I've been highlighting a number of consumer staples deals, including the Wrigley (WWY) purchase and takeover rumors surrounding Anheuser-Busch (BUD).Today, we got yet another M&A announcement ... this time from Smucker (SJM). The company will be buying the Folgers coffee business from Procter & Gamble (PG) in a transaction worth about $3 billion. PG shareholders will end up with a significant stake in SJM. In addition, before the transaction is completed, SJM will send out a $5-per-share special dividend to its investors. I expect to see more deal activity in this space. The big players are looking for growth and economies of scale by snapping up smaller players and individual product lines.Meanwhile, income investors who own these stable, profitable businesses are happily collecting dividend checks year in and year out.

Three weeks ago, one of my recommended companies announced it was being acquired — at a nice premium — by Mars (with help from Warren Buffett).

Now, another of my favorite consumer staples is reportedly up for grabs, too!

I’m talking about Anheuser-Busch (BUD), which I first recommended in the exact same report that profiled Wrigley.

Last Friday, the Financial Times reported that InBev SA, the giant Belgian brewer, is working on a $46-billion takeover bid for BUD.

The shares rose to a new all-time high of $58 shortly after the news hit the wires. So if you already own BUD stock, you might want to crack open a cold one and celebrate!

And even if you don’t yet own the stock, a $46-billion buyout implies an acquisition price of $65 …