The world's largest brewer, A-B Inbev, expects to cut about 3 percent of its total workforce — equivalent to thousands of jobs — once it completes its huge takeover of its closest rival, SABMiller.
The company headquartered in Leuven, Belgium, has about 150,000 workers while the London-based SABMiller claims to have around 70,000.
That would put the estimated job losses at around 6,600 over a three-year period. However, A-B InBev said in documents published Friday that the estimate doesn't include its sales and front-office supply departments, for which integration plans are not completed. The statement means it was not clear if there would be even more job cuts than the announced 3 percent.
It expects losses at SABMiller's current headquarters, as the new company will be based in Leuven and New York.
Analysts say A-B InBev is known for being aggressive in cutting costs from takeovers and mergers. The company expects to make annual cost savings of about $1.4 billion after about four years.
Part of the logic of the $104 billion deal to buy SABMiller is to add new brands in countries it is not currently present in, particularly in fast-growing markets in Africa.
The deal has received backing from SABMiller's board but awaits approval from the company's shareholders. Some smaller shareholders have turned against the deal since a plunge in the value of the British pound eroded its value. Analysts, however, say it should be approved in a vote on Sept. 28.
The body representing SABMiller's European workers has also slammed the deal. In a letter last month it said it "does not welcome the takeover" and "expresses its strongest concerns for the future of the employees and for the sustainability of the business in Europe."
It's not know how the job cuts will affect A-B InBev's operations in St. Louis.
When Belgium-based InBev acquired Anheuser-Busch for $52 billion in 2008, the St. Louis brewer of Bud Light and Michelob had more than 6,000 employees in the St. Louis area. In the years that followed, A-B InBev slashed IT jobs and other functions, bringing its employee count to about 4,000 in 2011, the last year the company provided local workforce figures.
Hundreds more jobs left St. Louis last year when A-B moved its sales and marketing operations for the U.S. and Canada to New York, and brewery officials have repeatedly declined requests for a current local employee count.
Despite those reductions, A-B InBev continues to keep a big presence at its brewery south of downtown and elsewhere in the region. As part of its proposed acquisition of rival SABMiller, this month A-B InBev outlined its corporate office plans and said St. Louis will continue to serve as the company's North America zone headquarters. Also this year, A-B InBev completed construction on a $150 million expansion of its aluminum bottle plant in Arnold, adding 70 jobs.
By: Staff (St. Louis Post-Dispatch) and Wire Reports.
Contributing: Lisa Brown (The Post-Dispatch).
Photo: Yves Logghe (Associated Press).
Review: Emerging Market Formulations & Research Unit, FLAGSHIP RECORDS.
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