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The Watering Down Of A Great Country

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: July 15, 2008

Just when you thought times couldn't get more discouraging in the United States, a Belgian company announced Sunday that it was purchasing an American icon - Anheuser-Busch, the maker of Budweiser and other popular domestic beers - for $52 billion.

It's of small consolation that the foreign company, InBev, will call the new venture Anheuser-Busch-InBev. Or that its North American headquarters will be in St. Louis, where the family-run Anheuser-Busch has been a fixture for well over 100 years and the Busch family name adorns the baseball park. Or that one of America's greatest commercial symbols - the Clydesdale draft horses, synonymous with the hard-working class - won't be sent into retirement.

The cause for sadness is that another national icon has been gobbled up by foreign interests as the American dollar continues to lose value.

It's not that InBev doesn't brew good products. Bass ale, Stella Artois and Beck's, to name a few, are good and popular in the United States. Budweiser, known as the "King of Beers," and other A-B brands should be in capable hands.

But look across the American landscape. Last week an Abu Dhabi-based fund bought the Chrysler Building, the Art Deco masterpiece of New York City's skyline, for an undisclosed sum. And just before that deal, investors from Dubai teamed with two U.S.-based firms to buy the General Motors Building, another Manhattan landmark, for $2.8 billion.

It's no mystery why foreign investors are scarfing up American properties. They're taking advantage of depressed real estate values and America's troubled economy. Investors from oil-rich Middle Eastern companies have purchased more property in the United States this year - nearly $2 billion worth - than any other region, according to a recent Bloomberg report.

The trend makes people wonder what's next. It's a matter of national pride.

Of specific interest locally is the future of Busch Gardens in Tampa, which has been a strong corporate citizen in our region. Busch Entertainment Corp., a division of A-B, owns the theme park, as well as several others. What happens to those parks isn't clear.

What is clear is that "InBev Gardens" leaves a poor taste in your mouth.

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