Carlsberg A/S, the biggest Nordic brewer, plans to raise 30.5 billion kroner ($6.3 billion) in a stock sale to repay about half the debt taken on with the purchase of Scottish & Newcastle Plc's Russian assets. Existing shareholders will be offered 76.3 million B shares for 400 kroner each, Valby, Denmark-based Carlsberg said overnight, about 40 percent below yesterday's closing price. The rights offer was near the 31.5 billion-kroner limit previously indicated, and is Denmark's biggest stock sale.
Carlsberg, which will sell stock rather than rely solely on debt for the deal to keep its investment-grade credit rating, rose in Copenhagen trading, erasing a 6.1 percent drop. Chief Executive Officer Joergen Buhl Rasmussen, who said the offering stirred ``a lot of interest'' from investors, bought Scottish & Newcastle with Heineken NV and split its assets. Carlsberg won full control of the largest brewer in Russia, where sales are rising as western Europe stagnates.
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