The reason for the move is the acquisition, completed in November last year, of the US brewer Anheuser Busch (AB), which immediately gave it a one-half share in the US market. AB contributes 40% of the company’s total earnings, and InBev sees important growth potential in the US, despite the economic crisis. (Beer is generally regarded as a recession-proof product). The moves should also contribute to savings following the €40 billion takeover.

InBev has said it is looking to cut 1,400 jobs in the US – about 6% of the workforce – which is likely to cause problems with the Teamsters union. The powerful American union opposed the merger in the first place because of fears surrounding InBev’s well-known history of buying up companies and then slashing jobs. Last week, the company announced the closure of a procurement division in St Louis, though the number of jobs affected was not specified. A further 250 vacancies will not be filled, and 415 contractor positions will be wiped out.

According to reports, CEO Carlos Brito and CFO Felipe Dutra will split their time between Leuven and New York. (Brito famously does not even have a designated parking space at the Leuven headquarters and flies economy when possible.) After the management move to New York, Leuven will still employ 70 or so executives. The company’s breweries and their 2,900 workers in Belgium will not be affected.

The InBev move is the latest in a long line of major companies that have chosen to move their headquarters out of Belgium. Other examples include Generale Maatschappij (taken over by the French group Suez and moved to Paris), Tractebel, Electrabel and Petrofina. In addition, former banking giant Fortis has been sold to the French and Distrigas to the Italians. InBev, having taken over the US giant AB, was seen as a reversal of the general trend, but that view now appears to have been prematurely optimistic.

Others have pointed out that the Belgian character of InBev was lost a long time ago when Interbrew was taken over by AmBev of Brazil. Even before the merger with AB, most of the company’s top managers were not Belgian. In fact, most, like Brito, are the product of MBA courses at US business schools.

It’s unlikely the move from Leuven to New York will be marked by regret on the part of the managers. The main shareholders, however, continue to be a group of wealthy Belgian families. In this matter, as in most others within the company, they are keeping their distance and are happy as long as decisions taken are good for the balance sheet.