June 11 (Bloomberg) -- InBev NV made an unsolicited offer to buy Anheuser-Busch Cos. for $46.3 billion in cash to create the world's biggest brewer with half of the U.S. market.

Anheuser-Busch climbed as much as 9.7 percent in late New York trading today after saying its board will evaluate the $65- a-share proposal ``in due course.''

``I think shareholders are going to be pretty pleased with that price,'' Donald Yacktman, an Anheuser-Busch investor who oversees $1 billion as president of Yacktman Asset Management, said in a Bloomberg Television interview.

The industry's largest takeover would put InBev's Stella Artois and Leffe together with Budweiser, the iconic lager first brewed 132 years ago in St. Louis. In a 20-year acquisition spree, InBev has grown from a collection of family-owned Flemish beers to become the world's top brewer by sales, dominating the Latin American market. SABMiller Plc has the most sales by volume.

InBev said in a statement today that it intends to finance the transaction with at least $40 billion in debt arranged by banks including Banco Santander SA. It said two directors, Jorge Paulo Lemann and Marcel Telles, had a June 2 meeting with Anheuser-Busch Chief Executive Officer August A. Busch IV at which Busch asked if they had a formal proposal, InBev said.

Today's bid is 11 percent higher than Anheuser-Busch's share price at the end of New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The shares rose $4.38, or 7.5 percent, to $62.73 at 7:58 p.m. in trading after the close of the exchange.

Evoking Heritage

The name of the combined company would ``evoke Anheuser- Busch's heritage,'' InBev said. The Leuven, Belgium-based company doesn't plan to close any U.S. breweries.

``Our successful collaboration in Canada, Korea and, more recently, the United States, gives us confidence that, together, we can achieve more for our various stakeholders than would be possible apart,'' InBev CEO Carlos Brito said in letter to Busch that InBev made public today.

The two companies have little overlap in their markets. While InBev has operations in at least 30 countries and sells in more than 130, it generates less than 1 percent of its beer volume in the U.S. Industrywide sales in the country are almost $100 billion a year, according to Euromonitor Plc.

Molson Coors Brewing Co. gained $1.21, or 2.1 percent, to $57.83 after the announcement, and Boston Beer Co., the maker of Samuel Adams, jumped 58 cents, or 1.5 percent, to $40.31.

August Busch IV sent an e-mail to the company's beer distributors, saying a decision may take months or longer, according to the newsletter Beer Business Daily.

Business as Usual

``As soon as we are able to relay the board's decision to you, we will do so,'' the newsletter quoted Busch as saying. ``There is nothing you should be doing, other than continuing to focus on business as usual.'' Anheuser-Busch spokeswoman Terri Vogt said in an e-mail that executives wouldn't be made available today for an interview.

Yacktman said resistance to the deal might come from the Busch family, who ``may view this as their company instead of the shareholders' company.'' August Busch IV is the fifth generation of Busch family members to run the brewer and the great-great grandson of co-founder Adolphus Busch.

Credit-default swaps tied to Anheuser-Bush's bonds, used to speculate on a company's creditworthiness or to hedge against losses, jumped to a record on concern that InBev would load up the company with debt to fund the takeover.

The contracts rose as much as 28 basis points to about 100 basis points before falling back to 86 basis points, according to New York-based Credit Derivatives Research LLC.

Miller, Coors

InBev's bid follows SABMiller's agreement to combine its U.S. division with that of Molson Coors. Anheuser-Busch, the world's biggest brewer for five decades before being overtaken by InBev, has been selling the Belgian company's Beck's and other brews in the U.S. for the past year.

The offer by InBev, which hired Lazard Ltd. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. as financial advisers, is 24 percent more than Anheuser-Busch's share price May 22, the day before the Financial Times' Alphaville blog reported InBev's interest.

A combination would save about $450 million a year in marketing, distribution and administrative costs, Credit Suisse Group AG estimated. InBev will add Bud Light with the purchase and create a company with sales of more than $36 billion, based on 2007 revenue.

Formed by the $11.2 billion takeover of Brazil's Cia de Bebidas das Americas by Interbrew SA, completed in 2005, InBev has sought growth outside of western Europe as consumption in the region slows.

More Acquisitions

Before buying AmBev, which Brito headed, InBev made acquisitions including the 2.3 billion-pound ($4.5 billion) takeover of Bass Brewers Ltd. in 2000 and the C$3.97 billion ($4 billion) purchase of Labatt Brewing Co. in 1995. Sullivan & Cromwell LLP is InBev's legal adviser in the latest bid. Vogt declined to say who Anheuser-Busch's advisers are.

Anheuser-Busch has been under pressure from investors to expand overseas or add spirits and non-alcoholic drinks after domestic volume dropped 1.8 percent in 2005 before rising 1.2 percent in 2006 and 2.1 percent in 2007.

To contact the reporters on this story: Duane D. Stanford at dstanford2@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: June 11, 2008 21:29 EDT