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Interbrew gains in debut
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December 1, 2000: 7:04 a.m. ET
Stella Artois brewer sees shares rise after $2.5B IPO in Brussels
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LONDON (CNNfn) - Belgian beer maker Interbrew SA left investors with a pleasant aftertaste on Friday as its shares rose on their trading debut on the Brussels bourse.
Shares in the family-owned firm edged up 3.9 percent to  34.33 in late morning trade on the Euronext Brussels market.
Interbrew, which traces its history to 1366, said Thursday it had raised 2.9 billion ($2.5 billion) in Belgium's largest ever initial public offering, as it sold 88.2 million shares, or 21 percent of its capital.
The maker of Stella Artois and Rolling Rock lagers and Bass Ale has said it will use the funds to help pay off loans accumulated in its $3.3 billion purchase of the brewing business of the U.K.'s Bass PLC.
Leuven-based Interbrew said 6.2 percent of the offering was bought by individual investors, Reuters reported. Institutional demand was strong in the U.K., Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Japan.
Analysts said a review of its Bass purchase by U.K. competition regulators meant the shares weren't likely to soar. They also said the pricing near the bottom end of the previously indicated range reflected investors' concerns.
If the deal goes through, it will make Interbrew the world's second-largest brewer by volume after St. Louis, Mo.-based Anheuser-Busch Cos. (BUD: Research, Estimates).
Including Bass and its recently-acquired Whitbread Beer Company, Interbrew has a leading share of the British market with 32 percent.
Analysts have said Interbrew's shares were priced more cheaply, and have more growth potential, than those of Dutch rival Heineken NV.
But Interbrew may be subject to a fine of up to 10 percent of its annual revenue from competition regulators at the European Commission, the executive arm of the European Union, for colluding with rival Alken Maes in fixing prices and sharing information between 1993 and 1998. Interbrew admitted to engaging in anti-competitive behavior and said such practices had stopped and would not be repeated.
The commission, which is also investigating alleged beer cartels in other European countries, has rarely imposed such high fines for similar offenses.
Interbrew said 1999 profit amounted to 755.7 million before interest, tax,
depreciation and amortization, on revenue of 3.2 billion. Including recent U.K. takeovers of Bass Brewers and Whitbread Beer Company,
pro-forma revenue for the year was 6.4 billion.
--from staff and wire reports 
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Interbrew
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