A Call From Brito

Carlos Brito phoned this afternoon. Since most of the world had already heard the news that his company had formally completed its purchase of Anheuser Busch, the call was a courtesy. But, it was conducted with the easy charm that I have come to expect from him. I think that St. Louis is going to like him — and I am looking forward to working with him. Brito said that he and his team will spend the next several months changing things at A-B and that he still looked forward to the tour of the City’s neighborhoods and cultural institutions that I had promised him.

Closing the AB/InBev deal, of course, means that thousands of St. Louisans will now be sharing one of the largest infusions of wealth into this region in our history. Given the state of the national economy, it probably could not come at a better time.