Leuven, Belgium/New York  - Belgian brewery giant InBev, the world's biggest brewer by sales, made a 46.3-billion-dollar cash bid for US beer maker Anheuser-Busch on Thursday.

The bid by InBev, producer of brands Stella Artois and Beck's, is the equivalent of 65 dollars per share for Anheuser-Busch, maker of the popular US beer Budweiser. If successful the deal would, according to financial news agency Bloomberg, be the largest cash takeover ever.

Acceptance of the offer depends on approval from Anheuser shareholders which include investor Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway (the company's second-largest investor) and the Busch family.

In a statement on Thursday, InBev Chief Executive Officer Carlos Brito said the proposed new company would have its North American headquarters in the US city of St Louis (headquarters of Anheuser- Busch) and that no brewery closures were planned.

InBev, based in Leuven, Belgium, stated Wednesday that the bid would be paid for from 40 billion dollars of debt from banks that include Spain's Banco Santander. (dpa)