Anheuser-Busch InBev, the world’s largest brewer, has made a formal £68bn (€92bn) bid for its smaller rival, SAB Miller, mainly in cash.

It has emerged that SAB has already turned down two previous informal offers over the past month.

SAB Miller has officially turned down the offer but doing so could be facing a split amongst its shareholders and board.

Its largest shareholder, the giant tobacco group Altria, has signalled its acceptance of the Anheuser Busch offer, but the views of the next largest shareholder remain unclear - that’s the wealthy Santo Domingo family of Columbia.

SAB Miller called on the UK mergers and takeover regulator to intervene yesterday when Anheuser Busch either incorrectly, or prematurely suggested that they expected to have the family’s support.

Big stakes are at play here - a merger would combine the owners of over 400 beer brands including Budweiser, Miller, Stella Artois, Corona and Grolsch. It would see the group brew one in every three beers sold worldwide.

Regulators have set a deadline of next week for a successful bid or the parties will have to take a minimum six-month break.

Earlier this week The New York Post published a story which indicated that the deal may be in doubt - this led to a dip in SAB Miller's share price.