AB

"Ever since their acquisition of Brahma, the trio had dreamed of owning Budweiser. It was not only the world’s largest brewery, but also had what was probably the world’s best portfolio of beer brands. To make it an even more attractive target, AB possessed a tripod of (1) meager financial and (2) operational results, as well as (3) diffused stock ownership."

"Everything pointed to the fact that AB’s board, dominated by the Third and the Fourth, would do little to get a deal with InBev done. It would disrupt their luxurious status quo and expose years of management inefficiencies to the world. An alternative course of action was to approach the board, but make it public by “leaking” copies to the press, and in the process creating an environment where it would be embarrassing not to seriously consider the offer, which was AB’s board of directors’ fiduciary duty in the first place. InBev ended up using just such a course of action."