Molson Coors Brewing Co. announced it will sell $2.4 billion worth of shares to help finance its planned purchase of SABMiller’s interest in MillerCoors LLC for $12 billion.
Molson Coors, which has dual headquarters in Denver and Quebec, plans to buy SABMiller’s 58 percent stake in the MillerCoors joint venture to become full owner. The move would help reduce monopoly concerns for U.S. regulators, who must approve Belgian mega brewer Anheuser-Busch InBev’s plans to purchase London-based SABMiller for $100 billion.
MillerCoors is based in Chicago, but brews much of its beer in Milwaukee.
Molson Coors is offering the Class B common stock for $87.60 per share, which is expected to net about $2.35 million.
The company also revealed its preliminary unaudited fourth quarter results in a filing Tuesday. Molson Coors expects to report in its Feb. 11 filing fourth quarter net income from continuing operations attributable to MCBC of approximately $28 million to $38 million, or 15 to 21 cents per diluted share.
A MillerCoors spokesperson today said there is no update on the progress of the planned AB InBev-SABMIller acquisition, and that the company is still expecting the U.S. Justice Department to provide its ruling in the second half of this year.
