Grupo Modelo loses Anheuser-Busch arbitration

Many analysts believe that AB-InBev will be keen to sit down with the controlling shareholders of Grupo Modelo to discuss an acquisition. After all, Grupo Modelo is an attractive company in an attractive market. If AB-InBev applied its cost cutting techniques to Grupo Modelo, it might be able to squeeze even more profits out of it.

However, Grupo Modelo’s Chief Executive Officer Carlos Fernandez said in 2008 that the company was interested in buying back Anheuser-Busch’s non-controlling stake, which the Budweiser-maker bought in the 1990s.

Call that grandstanding or just wishful thinking? In any case, the heat is on Grupo Modelo.