Anheuser-Busch dug in its heels Monday in the face of a move by Belgian-Brazilian brewing giant InBev to oust the board of the leading US beermaker as part of a hostile takeover bid.
The latest InBev move, according to the US brewer, "is a self-serving effort by InBev to try to purchase Anheuser-Busch for a price Anheuser-Busch's independent board already has determined to be financially inadequate and not in the best interest of shareholders."
Anheuser-Busch said however its board told InBev "it would be open to consider any proposal that would provide full and certain value to Anheuser-Busch shareholders" but that InBev "has made no attempt to provide such an offer."
The US company said "its present board of directors is in a better position to create the best value for its shareholders than a slate proposed by InBev."
The statement came hours after InBev raised the pressure on the US company to accept its 46-billion-dollar (29-billion-euro) bid, by saying it would seek support from Anheuser-Busch shareholders to replace the board and proposed an alternative lineup.
InBev said that it was filing a so-called consent solicitation statement with the US Securities and Exchange Commission to dismiss each member of the current board.
Among the new board members proposed by InBev figured Adolphus A. Busch IV, a great grandson of the founder of Anheuser-Busch and uncle of August A. Busch IV, the company's current president and chief executive who also happens to support InBev's bid.
Anheuser-Busch said it "urged its shareholders to take no action and not sign or return any consent they may receive in the future from InBev."
It said the company will file a statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission in the coming days with "additional specific information."
"Anheuser-Busch shareholders should ask themselves whether the directors selected by InBev would negotiate the best transaction for Anheuser-Busch shareholders," the St. Louis, Missouri-based company said.
Anheuser-Busch also said that a tie-up could be complicated by InBev's dealings in Cuba.
"Shareholders also should be aware that InBev, through a subsidiary, has a significant partnership with the government of Cuba to produce and distribute products in Cuba," Anheuser-Busch said.
"InBev has not commented on how that would impact business with Anheuser-Busch's customers, nor on its ability to complete an acquisition under US laws that affect acquisitions of US companies by foreign companies."
InBev, which already owns leading brands such as Stella Artois, Beck's, Leffe and Brahma, offered 65 dollars per Anheuser-Busch share on June 11, hoping to create an unrivalled global brewing giant.
But the US brewer of iconic brands Budweiser and Bud Light spurned the offer as "financially inadequate and not in the best interests" of shareholders.
With a takeover, InBev, which claims the title of the world's biggest beer maker, would create close to a 100-billion-dollar business in the most ambitious act of corporate consolidation since last year's credit crunch shook the markets.
The bid has stirred fierce opposition in the 150-year-old company's home state of Missouri, where Governor Matt Blunt has called the prospect of a foreign takeover "deeply troubling."
