louis based company . for the parent company see anheuser busch inbev . for the historic brewery see anheuser busch brewery . this article needs additional citations for verification . please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . may 2009 learn how and when to remove this template message anheuser busch companies inc. type wholly owned subsidiary industry beverages beverage packaging founded 1852 ; 164 years ago 1852 as bavarian brewery st. louis missouri u.s. founder eberhard anheuser adolphus busch 1 headquarters st. louis missouri u.s. number of locations 12 breweries 2012 2 area served united states key people luiz fernando edmond president products beer malt beverages energy drinks bottled water revenue us 15.304 billion 2011 3 4 net income us 8.578 billion 2011 3 4 parent anheuser busch inbev website anheuser busch.com anheuser busch companies inc. nha z r b is an american brewing company founded and based in st. louis missouri . since 2008 it has been a wholly owned subsidiary of anheuser busch inbev ab inbev . 5 the company operates 12 breweries in the united states . 2 until december 2009 it also was one of the largest theme park operators in the united states operating ten theme parks through the company s family entertainment division busch entertainment corporation . 6 st. louis missouri is also the headquarters for the ab inbev north america unit . 5 7 contents 1 history 1.1 beginnings and national expansion 1.2 prohibition period 1.3 prohibition to acquisition by inbev 1.4 post acquisition changes 2 operations and products 2.1 corporate leadership 2.2 brewery operations 2.3 other operations 2.4 beverage products 3 advertising 4 controversies 4.1 spykes underaged alcohol marketing 4.2 environmental record 4.3 budweiser bill 4.4 up for whatever beer campaign controversy 4.5 liquor law violations in seattle 5 see also 6 notes 7 further reading 8 external links history edit beginnings and national expansion edit in 1852 german american brewer and saloon operator george schneider opened the bavarian brewery on carondelet avenue later known as south broadway between dorcas and lynch streets in south st. louis . 8 schneider s brewery expanded in 1856 to a new brewhouse near eighth and crittenden streets ; however the following year financial problems forced the sale of the brewery to various owners during the late 1850s . 8 in 1860 the brewery was purchased on the brink of bankruptcy by william d oench a local pharmacist and eberhard anheuser a prosperous german born soap manufacturer . 8 9 d oench was the silent partner in the business until 1869 when he sold his half interest in the company . 8 from 1860 to 1875 the brewery was known as e. anheuser & co. and from 1875 to 1879 as the e. anheuser company s brewing association . 8 adolphus busch a wholesaler who had immigrated to st. louis from germany in 1857 married eberhard anheuser s daughter lilly in 1861 . following his service in the american civil war busch began working as a salesman for the anheuser brewery . 10 busch purchased d oench s share of the company in 1869 and he assumed the role of company secretary from that time until the death of his father in law . 10 anheuser busch was one of the first companies to transport beer nationwide using railroad refrigerator cars . adolphus busch was the first american brewer to use pasteurization to keep beer fresh ; the first to use mechanical refrigeration and refrigerated railroad cars which he introduced in 1876 ; and the first to bottle beer extensively . 1 11 12 by 1877 the company owned a fleet of 40 refrigerated railroad cars to transport beer . 12 expanding the company s distribution range led to increased demand for anheuser products and the company substantially expanded its facilities in st. louis during the 1870s . 13 the expansions led production to increase from 31 500 barrels in 1875 to more than 200 000 in 1881 . 13 to streamline the company s refrigerator car operations and achieve vertical integration busch established the st. louis refrigerator car company in 1878 which was charged with building selling and leasing refrigerator cars ; by 1883 the company owned 200 cars and by 1888 it owned 850 . 14 to serve these cars and switch them in and out of their st. louis brewery anheuser busch founded the manufacturers railway company in 1887 . the shortline operated until 2011 when anheuser busch sought to shut down operations . 15 during the 1870s adolphus busch toured europe and studied the changes in brewing methods which were taking place at the time particularly the success of pilsner beer which included a locally popular example brewed in budweis . 9 in 1876 busch introduced budweiser with the ambition of transcending regional tastes . 9 his company s ability to transport bottled beer made budweiser the first national beer brand in the united states and it was marketed as a premium beer . 9 the company was renamed anheuser busch brewing association in 1879 ; in 1880 adolphus busch became company president upon anheuser s death . 14 16 the busch family fully controlled the company through the generations until anheuser busch s sale to inbev in 2008 . 17 during the 1880s and 1890s busch introduced a series of advertisements and marketing giveaways for the company including bottle openers calendars corkscrews pocketknives postcards and prints . 18 among the most well known of these giveaways was custer s last fight a lithograph print of a painting by st. louis artist cassilly adams . 18 as a marketing tactic busch distributed thousands of copies of the print to bars in 1896 18 the same year anheuser busch introduced its new super premium brand michelob . 19 eventually more than one million copies of the print were produced and it became one of the most popular pieces of artwork in american history . 18 at the turn of the 20th century anheuser busch continued to expand its production facilities to keep up with demand . 20 in 1905 the company built a new stockhouse in st. louis and by 1907 it produced nearly 1.6 million barrels of beer . 20 as demands for the prohibition of alcohol in the united states grew anheuser busch began producing non alcoholic and low alcoholic beverages known as near beer ; the most successful of these was bevo a malt beverage introduced in 1908 . 20 after the death of adolphus busch in 1913 control of the company passed to his son august anheuser busch sr. who continued to combat the rise of prohibitionists . 20 as part of an effort to improve the respectability of drinking august busch built three upscale restaurants in st. louis during the 1910s the stork inn the gretchen inn now known as the feasting fox and the bevo mill . 20 anheuser busch produced olive colored budweiser cans during world war ii . prohibition period edit as with all breweries in the country the temperance movement and eventual prohibition in the united states dealt a major blow to the company in the 1910s through the 1930s . some of the products sold by anheuser busch to survive during prohibition included brewer s yeast malt extract ice cream and bevo a nonalcoholic malt beverage . 16 21 prohibition to acquisition by inbev edit in 1957 anheuser busch became the largest brewer in the united states . in 1981 anheuser busch international inc. was established as a subsidiary responsible for the company s international operations and equity investments . prior to its 2008 acquisition anheuser busch operated 15 breweries internationally 14 in china and one in the united kingdom . in 1997 chinese production of anheuser busch products began after the company s purchase of a local brewery ; later the company operated both budweiser wuhan international brewing company and harbin brewery which anheuser busch fully acquired in 2004 . in the united kingdom the budweiser stag brewing company produced and packaged budweiser at the stag brewery in mortlake . at one time anheuser busch international also held investments in grupo modelo in mexico 22 tsingtao brewery in china ; 22 anheuser busch also held investments in redhook ale brewery of seattle washington 23 and widmer brothers brewery of portland oregon . 23 after the 2008 acquisition most international operations were transferred to ab inbev zones where the interests are located . on june 12 2008 belgian brazilian brewing company inbev announced that it had made a us 46 billion offer for the company 24 which if it was accepted would join two of the world s four largest brewing companies based on revenue and create a company brewing three of the highest grossing beers in the world namely bud light budweiser and skol . inbev also stated that the merger would not result in any u.s. brewery closures and they would attempt to retain management and board members from both companies . 25 on june 25 2008 anheuser busch officially announced that they would reject inbev s offer and provide a restructuring of the company to maintain shareholders and united states world headquarters in st. louis . 26 on july 1 2008 inbev urged anheuser busch shareholders to vote in favor of the buyout as inbev felt the offer of 65 per share should be considered a reasonable offer in view of the falling stock market . the company had previously filed suit in delaware after the rejection of their offer to ensure that the stockholders could oust anheuser busch s 13 board members . 27 on july 7 2008 anheuser busch filed a lawsuit against inbev to stop them from soliciting support of shareholders stating that the company s offer is an illegal scheme . inbev was also accused of concealing that they do business in cuba which might have created additional obstacles to their efforts to operate in the united states . 28 on july 13 2008 anheuser busch and inbev said they had agreed to a deal pending shareholder and regulatory approval 29 for inbev to purchase the american icon at 70 per share creating a new company to be named anheuser busch inbev . anheuser busch would get two seats on the combined board of directors . the all cash agreement almost 52 billion in total equity created the world s largest brewer uniting the maker of budweiser and michelob with the producer of beck s stella artois hoegaarden leffe bass labatt and brahma . the two companies had combined yearly sales of more than 36.4 billion surpassing the current no. 1 brewer london based sabmiller . 30 31 grupo modelo took inbev to arbitration for more than a year and a half after the deal was completed over whether they could block the deal . on 7 october 2009 parent company anheuser busch inbev announced plans to sell the theme parks division to the blackstone group for up to 2.7 billion usd . 32 in july 2010 a panel decided that the takeover did not violate anheuser busch agreement with modelo . 33 post acquisition changes edit on november 18 2008 the acquisition was completed and the parent corporation was renamed anheuser busch inbev ; anheuser busch became a wholly owned subsidiary of the new corporation controlled within the north america zone unit of ab inbev . by early 2009 ab inbev turned a family led company that spared little expense into one that is focused intently on cost cutting and profit margins while rethinking the way it sells beer . 34 ab inbev focused on reducing costs in the anheuser busch companies subsidiary and implemented performance related pay 34 along with several other changes . they immediately laid off 1 400 employees and 415 contractors 35 sold busch entertainment corporation and company owned aircraft lengthened accounts payable terms and introduced zero based