In an effort to finance its anticipated purchase of the soft drinks group Panamerican Beverages, the Mexican beverage group Coca-Cola Femsa has filed to issue up to 10 billion pesos (US$937m) in local debt.
The debt will make up a large part of the US$2.7 billion Femsa will pay to complete the deal, which will create the world’s number two Coca-Cola bottler.
The new local debt will be in the form of a program of “certificados bursatiles”, an instrument created in 2001 allowing Mexican companies to issue peso-denominated paper that can be traded on the local securities exchange.
No time frame has been put on the issue yet, but it is largely expected that it will occur in the second quarter, according to the timing of the Panamco deal.
