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UPDATED 1:20 P.M.

Three weeks after InBev completed its $52 billion takeover of Anheuser-Busch, the new company said today it would slash 1,400 salaried jobs, or 6 percent of its U.S. workforce in an effort to reduce costs.

About three fourths of the job losses will come at the company’s St. Louis headquarters. The rest will occur at other locations and breweries, the Leuvens, Belgium-based Anheuser-Busch InBev said in a statement issued around lunchtime on Monday.

The company will also leave 250 open jobs unfilled and eliminate 415 contractor positions. Most of the job cuts will occur by year-end, the company said.

InBev has long promised to keep all of A-B’s U.S. breweries operating. At the same time, analysts predicted that deep cost cuts would be needed to justify the deal. Rumors about job losses grew louder in weeks leading up to and after the Nov. 18 acquisition, especially given Chief Executive Carlos Brito’s reputation for a relentless focus on costs.

"To keep the business strong and competitive, this is a necessary but difficult move for the company," David A. Peacock, president of Anheuser-Busch, said in a statement. "We will assist in the transition for these employees as much as possible."

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fast payday loans.stltoday.com/stltoday/images/bullet.gif” width=”5″ height=”5″ alt=”bullet” border=”0″/> MEMO: Read the layoff memo from A-B InBev (PDF file)

A-B InBev said it will provide severance pay and pension benefits to affected employees based on age and years of service. They will also be offered outplacement services and other benefits during the transition, the company said.

The cuts come on top of more than 1,000 U.S. salaried employees who accepted early retirement. The retirements were part of a $1 billion cost-cutting plan called Blue Ocean that was announced by A-B during the summer.

"Managing our costs is important in building and maintanining a successful business, especially in a challening ecomony," Peacock said.

Anheuser-Busch InBev will record $197 million in pre-tax expenses related to Monday’s job cuts. About $150 million will come from severance payments and the rest of the amount is related to pension benefits.

Anheuser-Busch employs about 6,000 in St. Louis, and some of the jobs overlap with corporate functions elsewhere in the company.

Check STLtoday.com for more on this breaking story.

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