The Belgian brewery InBev Monday sharpened its billion-dollar takeover bid of US brewer Anheuser- Busch, pushing shareholders to oust the Anheuser board and trying to leverage disagreement within the Bush family to its advantage, dpa reported.
The current board last month rejected a 46.3-billion-dollar offer as too low.
The Leuven, Belgium-based brewer said Monday in a submission to the US stock regulatory agency that it would try to use a special process provided in Anheuser-Bush's bylaws to derail the resistance.
The bylaw allows shareholders to elect a new board without meeting physically, InBev said in its filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
In a statement issued in Belgium, INBev said it would then put its own members onto the board.
Anheuser-Busch, the maker of the 132-year-old Budweiser beer, rejected InBev's offer on June 26, saying it undervalued the company. InBev wants to replace one member of the family now serving as chief executive officer, August A Busch IV, and other directors with a board that includes another family member, Adolphus A Busch IV, the CEO's uncle and great-grandson of Anheuser-Busch's founder.
Adolphus wanted the board to accept the InBev bid.
InBev is expected to wait for the SEC to rule on its proposal.