ST. LOUIS (CN) - InBev's $52 billion buyout of Anheuser-Busch has left the status of more than a dozen class actions against Anheuser-Busch in doubt. Anheuser-Busch's approval of InBev's offer ends a month of a contentious legal back and forth. InBev upped its offer to $70 a share from its original $65 a share offer in May, turning a hostile negotiation into a buyout that will form the world's largest brewer.
The company will be called Anheuser-Busch InBev; Anheuser-Busch will have two seats on the new company's board of directors.
Anheuser-Busch's refusal to accept InBev's original offer in May spurred numerous lawsuits in St. Louis and Delaware state courts. Fifteen lawsuits were filed from June 4 to July 2, claiming Anheuser-Busch breached its duty to shareholders by not taking InBev's offer.
Anheuser-Busch and InBev also got into the act. InBev sued in Delaware state court on June 24, seeking a ruling to remove the Anheuser-Busch board.
Anheuser-Busch sued InBev in St. Louis Federal Court on July 7, claiming InBev was making false statements about the benefits of the buyout to entice Anheuser-Busch shareholders to accept the offer.
David Wales, of Wolf, Haldenstein, Adler, Freeman & Herz in New York, is a lead counsel on one of the lawsuits filed on behalf of Anheuser-Busch's shareholders in St. Louis Federal Court. In a phone call, he refused to speculate on the future of the numerous shareholder lawsuits against Anheuser-Busch.
"The defendants just entered an appearance in our suit," Wales said. "Other than that, I have no comment."
Other attorneys involved in lawsuits against Anheuser-Busch had not returned phone calls by late this morning.
Follow @@joeharris_stlSubscribe to Closing Arguments
Sign up for new weekly newsletter Closing Arguments to get the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and hot cases and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world.