Pabst on the Block

After the story broke last week (see BBD 11/06/03), Pabst admitted that it has hired Merrill Lynch to market the company to an outside buyer. Merrill has sent an offering memo to potential buyers, including beer companies and leveraged buyout firms. The company finally admitted that tax law dictates the Kalmanovitz trust, which owns Pabst, must divest itself of the company by mid-2005. Current Pabst president Brian Kovalchuck, whom I met in Las Vegas, said that the trust is also