PARIS: The world's leading brewer, Anheuser-Busch InBev, raised 13.25 billion euros ($14.7 billion) on the markets Wednesday, a record amount in euros, a source told AFP.
The debt issue by the Belgium-based brewer comes only days after the European Central Bank said it would begin buying corporate bonds as part of its asset purchase programme.
The source said the ECB announcement "aided" the success of the bond issue by the company, even "if it wasn't the only reason".
The previous record euro bond issue was the nearly 10 billion raised Swiss pharmaceutical group Roche in 2009.
Demand for Wednesday's issue, for AB InBev bonds with maturities from four to 20 years, was enormous at more than 31 billion euros, according to the source.
AB InBev declined to comment when contacted by AFP.
The brewer is raising funds to finance its acquisition of rival SAB Miller in an operation worth more than $100 billion which should be wrapped up in the coming months.
AB InBev raised $46 billion in January in one of the biggest corporate bond issues ever.
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