Dec. 8 (Bloomberg) -- Anheuser-Busch InBev NV, the world’s largest brewer, will cut about 1,400 salaried jobs in the U.S. to help shave its workforce by more than 2,000 as it conserves cash to pay down debt.

Anheuser-Busch InBev also won’t fill 250 open positions and will eliminate 415 contractor jobs, the Leuven, Belgium-based beverage maker said in statement today. The company expects pretax expenses of about $197 million related to the job cuts.

The reductions come on top of the 1,000 jobs eliminated this year through an early retirement program as InBev looks to pare $1.5 billion a year in costs. The savings will help pay the $45 billion in financing used to acquire Anheuser-Busch, the maker of Budweiser beer, on Nov. 18.

About 1,050 of the latest job cuts will be made in the corporate ranks, while the rest will be field and brewery positions. Most of them will happen by Dec. 31, the company said.

The Anheuser-Busch division will employ about 20,600 workers when the cuts are completed, a decline of 12 percent since June, said spokeswoman Marianne Amssoms.

Anheuser-Busch InBev shares jumped 90 cents, or 7.1 percent, to 13.55 euros today in Brussels. The stock has fallen 12 percent since the combined company’s shares began trading Nov. 20.

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

Last Updated: December 8, 2008 16:53 EST