Anheuser-Busch InBev (AB InBev) has offered to sell brands in Central and Eastern Europe in order to speed up the process of approval from the regulatory authorities for the acquisition of its British rival, SABMiller.

The offer has been submitted to the European Commission far ahead of the end of the first phase of investigation on the merger.

The first phase of the probe is expected to end on 24 May.

“According to analysts, the sale of the brewing business is expected to fetch anywhere between $4.6bn and $7.8bn.”

AB InBev proposed the sale of SABMiller’s Polish, Hungarian, Slovakian, Romanian, and Czech businesses.

According to analysts, the sale of the brewing business is expected to fetch anywhere between $4.6bn and $7.8bn, reported The Financial Times.

In a statement, the company said: "In line with AB InBev’s ambition to close the overall transaction during the second half of 2016, the company has made this additional commitment in Phase 1 of the European Commission enquiry.

"As previously stated, the proposed divestments are subject to review and approval by the European Commission and conditional on the successful closing of the recommended acquisition of SABMiller by AB InBev."

While AB InBev has operations in Russia and the Ukraine, it has little presence in the markets where it is planning to divest.

The firm left these markets in 2009.

AB InBev signed an agreement to divest most of SABMiller’s European assets, including the Peroni, Grolsch and Meantime brands for €2.55bn to Asahi, a Japanese firm, reported the Wall Street Journal.

The firm intends to complete the acquisition of SABMiller by the end of this year.