InBev, the Belgian brewer and owner of Stella Artois beer, yesterday made the first hostile move against Anheuser-Busch when it threatened to try to launch a boardroom coup at the Missouri-based company.

InBev is offering almost $47 billion (£23.6 billion) in cash to buy the owner of Budweiser – the price represents a 35 per cent premium to Anheuser-Busch’s share price before speculation of a takeover approach.

While it made the approach on June 11, there have been no talks between the two companies and it is understood that Anheuser-Busch will reject the offer at the beginning of next week. The American brewer believes the offer to be too low and is considering selling off assets such as its theme park business to boost its share price and justify its decision.

Yesterday, InBev filed a lawsuit in a Delaware court which asks a US judge to clarify the rights of Anheuser-Busch shareholders according to its corporate charter. InBev wants the judge to rule that shareholders have the right to remove all executives from the board should they succeed in garnering sufficient support.

Under US corporate law, shareholders can seek to remove directors without calling a special general meeting. A shareholder could hire a lawyer, seek to secure support from other investors and send a letter to the board demanding that an individual be removed from a board.

While Anheuser-Busch altered its charter two years ago and there is genuine confusion over whether directors who were appointed before the change can be ousted, Wall Street interpreted the lawsuit as the first move by InBev towards a future hostile approach. While hostile takeovers are far more costly than friendly ones, it is thought that InBev has secured about $50 billion worth of financing.

InBev has grown frustrated that Anheuser-Busch is refusing to open talks and will reject the offer next week. It needs to buy Anheuser-Busch because it has very little business in the United States, the world’s biggest beer market in terms of profits. It would also help it to gain a foothold into China.

The Belgian company has already spent $50 million in commitment fees to secure the financing for the deal. The consortium of banks funding the deal includes Banco Santander, Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi, Barclays Capital, BNP Paribas, Deutsche Bank, Fortis, ING Bank, JPMorgan, Mizuho Corporate Bank and Royal Bank of Scotland.

InBev also sought to address US concerns about possible job cuts and the future of the Anheuser-Busch headquarters in Missouri. The Belgian brewer has promised to keep the US headquarters.

Inbev has tried to push Anheuser-Busch into making a decision on its offer. This week, Carlos Brito, chief executive of InBev, sent a letter to his US rival reiterating that he was hopimg for a friendly merger and that he had secured funding, but that “time is of the essence”.

Shares in Anheuser-Busch, which are traded in New York, closed at $61.35, well below the $65 a share offered by InBev.

Anheuser-Busch failed to return calls yesterday.

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