Anheuser-Busch

Anheuser-Busch Companies, LLC is a brewing company based in St. Louis, Missouri USA and headquartered in Leuven, Belgium. Since 2008, it has been a wholly owned subsidiary of Anheuser-Busch InBev (AB InBev) which also has its North American regional management headquarters in St. Louis.The original Anheuser-Busch InBev (AB InBev) was formed through successive mergers of three international brewing groups: Interbrew from Belgium, AmBev from Brazil and Anheuser-Busch. Hence, since 2008, Anheuser-Busch has been a division of Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV, now the world's largest brewing company.The company employs over 30,000 people, operates 12 breweries in the United States, and until December 2009, was one of the largest theme park operators in the United States, with ten theme parks through the company's family entertainment division, Busch Entertainment Corporation.Anheuser-Busch InBev is the largest beer producer in the world.HistoryBeginnings and national expansionIn 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. 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. 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. D'Oench was the silent partner in the business until 1869, when he sold his half-interest in the company. 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.