Belgian brewer InBev's $46-billion bid to buy out Anheuser-Busch was rejected by the St. Louis based company's board, but InBev may be poised to up its offer to A-B shareholders and launch a hostile takeover, the Associated Press reported June 26.

Company CEO August Busch IV said on June 26 that InBev's offer of $65 for each share of Anheuser-Busch stock was "financially inadequate." On the same day, however, InBev went to court in Delaware to try to pave a legal path for A-B shareholders to remove the company's entire board of directors -- part of an apparent plan for InBev to sell its takeover bid directly to A-B shareholders.

"This is an extremely aggressive step," said Douglas Cogen, a mergers and acquisitions attorney with Fenwick & West. "Before this was filed, you could have guessed about whether (InBev) would have another round and upped their bid. To sort of come right out and say we're looking to replace the board ... it's about as aggressive as you can get."

Busch said that the company would pursue its own plans to improve its stock price through cost-cutting and new marketing initiatives.