Anheuser-Busch InBev NV raised a record $75 billion loan to back its acquisition of SABMiller Plc, according to Allen & Overy Plc.
A&O advised lenders including Banco Santander SA, Bank of America Corp., Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd., Barclays Plc, BNP Paribas SA and Deutsche Bank AG, according to a statement from the law firm.
"AB InBev's ability to raise $75 billion in the loan markets in the space of a few weeks shows that banks are still willing to support top-class borrowers in record amounts, despite the current era of increased regulatory and capital costs," Nicholas Clark, a partner at A&O in London, said in the statement. "This is the largest commercial loan in the history of the global loan markets, far surpassing pre-crisis values."
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ABI made a formal $107 billion offer to buy SABMiller on Wednesday, sealing a long-anticipated deal that combines the world's biggest brewers into a company controlling about half the industry's profit. Borrowing to fund the takeover may bring AB InBev's net debt to 4.5 times earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, according to Trevor Stirling of Sanford C. Bernstein. It was at 2.5 at the end of the second quarter.
AB InBev will replace the bank financing with bonds "as soon as practically possible," Felipe Dutra, AB InBev's chief financial officer, said on a conference call with investors on Oct. 7.
The brewer is planning to sell the equivalent of as much as $55 billion of bonds across multiple currencies and maturities, people familiar with the matter said last month. That sale will also be a record, exceeding the $49 billion of bonds that Verizon Communications Inc. raised two years ago to fund its buyout of Vodafone Group Plc's stake in a wireless venture, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
The bonds may be offered to investors at a premium in order for the market to absorb them. Verizon offered as much as 0.47 percentage-point more what debt with similar ratings and maturities was yielding at the time.
Bloomberg News
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