4/13/05

The Chinese can out drink Americans

            This is what the latest research has shown. In 2002 China surpassed the United States

to claim the #1 title as the world’s biggest beer industry. Anheuser-Busch has noticed this trend and

has pushed its way into the large market by "swapping $145.6 million of Tsingtao convertible bonds for

248.2 million newly issued H-class shares."  This means that Anheuser-Busch can nominate a second

director to the board which now puts them in control of 20% of the voting interest. In addition this puts

Anheuser-Busch in the #1 spot for a nongovernmental stakeholder. The Chinese government is the largest

share holder holding onto 30.6% of the shares. What does this mean to us Americans? It means that although

we may be handicapped by our smaller population we are branching outwards to reclaim our title. Only time

will tell if the United States will be able to overcome China’s sure numbers. Until then all of us here at Barbax

will drink an extra brew down to try and compensate. Cheers!