Dive Brief:
- AB InBev is thinking long and hard about a possible takeover of PepsiCo, according to sources at the world's largest brewer, Bloomberg News reported over the weekend.
- Bloomberg says there are not active talks between the companies, and no deal is imminent.
- The investment community has long been intrigued by the possibility of combining the the brewer with the world's second-largest soda maker ... and activist investor Nelson Peltz remains quite vocal in calls for PepsiCo to be split in two so as to facilitate an acquisition.
Dive Insight:
There's much evidence, albeit circumstantial, to suggest that an AB InBev takeover of PepsiCo is coming. That's why Wall Street has long believed in such a marriage (that and a bit of wishful thinking about the mind-numbingly high banking fees that would be earned during an acquisition of a $142 billion soda and snack company).
The companies are long-time business buddies ... with bottling agreements in Latin America and a history of in-store marketing deals.
But the factor that points most strongly toward a takeover is AB InBev's much-discussed appetite for deals. The brewer is less a business operation than it is a mergers and acquisitions machine ... much like its leading rival, SABMiller.