Molson monitoring market after Brexit

By Hillary Flynn

NEW YORK, June 24 (IFR) - Molson Coors Brewing Company (NYSE: TAP - news) is in wait-and-watch mode with its plans to raise US$8bn in bonds next week to finance its purchase of SABMiller (Xetra: BRW1.DE - news) 's 58% stake in MillerCoors, after markets turned volatile following the UK's decision to exit the EU.

Syndicate bankers said it was probably now reassessing plans given the drastic change in market conditions.

The CDX IG 26 index was 8bp wider at 84.25bp and US equity markets were down sharply early on Friday.

Molson had been planning to issue around US$8bn of bonds across US dollars, Canadian dollars and euros as soon as next week, a source close to the deal told IFR.

The bonds were being raised to help fund Molson's purchase totalling around US$12bn.

The majority of the US$8bn bond financing was expected to be issued in the US dollar market, the source said.

A company spokesman told IFR: "We won't comment on the timing, as it is subject to market conditions, which we are watching closely."

Molson held a series of fixed income investor meetings in Europe from May 16, and followed up with an investor call in the US on June 22 through Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Citigroup (NYSE: C - news) , and UBS (LSE: 0QNR.L - news) . (Reporting by Hillary Flynn; additional reporting by Laura Benitez; editing by Shankar Ramakrishnan)