BELGIUM: AB InBev said to start biggest bond sale ever to back merger | Progresiv
Anheuser-Busch InBev NV recently started offering bonds that will back its takeover of SABMiller Plc in a sale that is likely to stretch into Europe and become the biggest corporate-debt offering on record. 
The brewer may sell about 25 billion dollars of dollar-denominated bonds in as many as eight parts, according to people familiar with the matter. Maturities will range from three to 30 years, according to a regulatory filing. The company has lined up 75 billion dollars of loans to help fund the takeover, and it is expected to tap debt markets in other regions later.
"It’s a well-telegraphed deal of a global company with a solid business, but, ultimately, it will come down to price," said Matthew Duch, a money manager at Calvert Investments in Bethesda, Maryland, which oversees more than 13 billion dollars in assets. "There is an expectation that the company will have to leave something on the table to get the deal done, but there are plenty of investors looking for quality assets to buy."
The sale is the biggest test in years for credit markets that are grappling with a slowdown in China, a commodities slump, and the first US interest-rate hike in almost a decade. The concern has pushed corporate borrowing costs to the highest in more than three years.
The dollar offering alone would be eclipsed only by Verizon Communications Inc.’s 49-billion dollars deal two years ago to fund its buyout of Vodafone Group Plc’s stake in a wireless venture.
Officials at AB InBev declined to comment on the bond sale when contacted by email. (www.esmmagazine.com)
