AB-InBev continues deleveraging

They have proven that they can and they tell us so: AB-InBev announced on 15 December 2009 that they have made an early payment of USD 3.7 billion to pay off acquisition-related debt, using proceeds from the recent sale of their central European breweries and theme parks.

The company said it paid USD 3.7 billion of the USD 8.9 billion outstanding under its Facility “C” maturing in November 2011. That reduces the original USD 13 billion loan to USD 5.2 billion.

The brewer now has USD 17.2 billion outstanding under its original USD 54.8 billion acquisition loans used to buy Anheuser-Busch last year. It will have to pay off another large chunk of debt before November 2011, while the most outstanding amounts are due only in November 2013.