BRUSSELS (Reuters UK) - InBev (INTB) said its $46 billion (23.2 billion pound) bid for Anheuser-Busch (BUD) would not lead to U.S. brewery closures and some of the U.S. firm's top management and board members would be retained after the planned merger.
"The combination would try to retain top management from both companies and board members from both," Carlos Brito, Chief Executive of Belgium's InBev, said in a video interview released to the media on Friday.
"There would be no brewery closures (in the United States)," he said.
A deal would fuse the second- and fourth-largest brewers to overtake world leader SABMiller Plc (SAB), and create a combined company that brews three of the top four beers in the world -- Bud Light, Budweiser and Skol.
"What's important here is that Budweiser the beer will continue to be brewed in the same breweries," Brito said.
"What we are trying to do now is engage with their board," he added.
"At the end of the day what we are proposing is a culture of high performance and common sense," Brito said.
Brito is no stranger to the Budweiser brand.
"When I am in Canada I drink Bud," Brito said, adding that when at home he opted for InBev's Stella Artois. InBev distributes Budweiser in Canada through its Canadian unit Labatt.
(Reporting by Huw Jones and Dale Hudson)
