Mexico: Mexican bottler and brewer Femsa announced on Monday, July 5, it plans to sell 2.5 billion pesos ($219 million) of local bonds to finance the repurchase of a 30 % stake in its beer unit owned by Belgium's Interbrew .

Femsa, the second largest Coke bottler in the world and the No. 2 Mexican brewer, said in a statement the local debt would be sold on Tuesday to investors who offer the lowest rates in an auction. Femsa, brewer of Tecate, Dos Equis and Sol beers, said the debt would be offered in two tranches of 1.25 billion pesos each, one lot for four years and the other for five years, according to Reuters.

In May, Femsa agreed to pay Interbrew $1.245 billion to unwind their 10-year-old partnership. Femsa said it would finance the operation -- in which it will take back the 30 percent stake Interbrew holds in Femsa's beer subsidiary -- through cash flows and new debt. Femsa filed a 5 billion peso ($437 million) debt program with the Mexican stock exchange in May.

07 July, 2004