The Financial Times Alphaville blog is reporting that European drinks giant InBev is working on a $46 billion takeover offer for Anheuser Busch, the St. Louis-based maker of Budweiser. It's a huge deal, and at a time of strained credit markets you have to wonder where the dough would come from. But with a combination of European capital (Credit markets on the continent aren't as hinky as those in the so-called Anglo-Saxon economies. One of the financiers would be Spain's Santander, Alphaville says) and a business that's about as far from finance and debt obligations as you can get, maybe it could be done.

Anheuser shares rose $3.50 this morning to $56, far short of the $65 price in the story, which bespeaks lots of skepticism.

Here's Alphaville:

A direct approach to approach to Anheuser chief executive August Busch IV is being planned, although expecting a cool reception, the InBev team are preparing to send a follow up letter to the American group’s entire board, mapping out terms that are expected to be pitched at $65 a share. If Anheuser refuse to commence friendly talks, InBev is considering a public appeal direct to the target’s shareholders.

On Friday, sources indicated that while extensive work had been carried out on the transaction, InBev was “not about to push the button.”

Putting the two companies, however, together would create a business capitalised at close to $100bn and would constitute the most ambitious piece of corporate consolidation since the onset of the credit crisis last summer. Anheuser and InBev together would be almost equally balanced between developed and emerging market operations across the globe, pumping out around 350m hectolitres of beer and other beverages annually. Annual revenues would be around $20bn, producing earnings of close to $6bn at the ebitda level.