Shares of two of the world’s biggest brewers, Belgium’s InBev and Anheuser-Busch, based in the US, rose on Friday after fresh reports of merger talks between the two companies.

InBev’s shares rose 4.1 per cent to €57.10 and Anheuser's 3.3 per cent to $48.04 by midday after press reports that the two had recently held “serious” merger discussions. Anheuser and InBev declined to comment.