BUD calls perk up on renewed takeover talk
by
Doris Frankel
Reuters
5/22/2008
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With persistent takeover speculation circling Anheuser Busch, its option volume once again was aggressive with a strong bias on the call side. In all, roughly 100,000 calls vs. 13,000 puts traded in BUD, 5 times the usual volume, according to Trade Alert.?
“There is some interesting upside call volume in Anheuser Busch. Most of this has been attributed to takeover chatter and the bulk of the rumors seem to be focused around (Belgian brewer) InBev?,” said Mark Longo, founder of TheOptionsInsider.com.?
“It is our policy to not confirm, deny or speculate on rumors of potential investments, acquisitions, mergers, new business partnerships or other transactions,” a company spokesman said. “We have seen an abnormal amount of upside call buying in multiple
months and strikes in this name for weeks now amidst rampant unsubstantiated
speculation that BUD will be the target of an acquirer,” Susquehanna Financial Group said in a note.