InBev sets in motion bid to oust Anheuser board

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - InBev INTB.BR set in motion its plan to oust the board of reluctant bid target Anheuser-Busch Cos Inc (BUD.N) on Tuesday by sending a letter to the U.S. rival it has offered to buy for $46.3 billion.

Belgium-based InBev said on Monday that it had filed a preliminary proposal with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission that would lead to Anheuser shareholders voting on a motion to replace all 13 board members.

InBev, the world's second-largest brewer by volume, argued that it wanted to give shareholders a voice in its proposed $65 per share takeover of the Budweiser and Michelob brewer in the face of the Anheuser board's unwillingness to talk.

InBev, maker of Stella Artois, Beck's and Brahma, sent a letter on Tuesday to Anheuser's board to set a "record date", an InBev spokeswoman said.

InBev's bid to replace the board would succeed if a majority of holders of shares on that date later backed its plan.

Anheuser has 10 days to respond to InBev's request with a date no more than 10 days after that, InBev has said. InBev would have to submit to Anheuser written consents from shareholders within 60 days of the earliest dated consent.

Anheuser responded on Monday that the plan was a "self-serving effort" by InBev to purchase Anheuser for an inadequate price.

(Reporting by Philip Blenkinsop; Editing by Paul Bolding)