Oct. 13 (Bloomberg) -- Anheuser-Busch InBev NV sold $5.5 billion of debt, matching the fourth-largest non-financial bond offering this year, as the Belgian brewer seeks to pay down borrowings from buying the owner of the Budweiser brand.

Anheuser-Busch InBev sold four maturities of bonds that ranged in size from $500 million to $2.25 billion, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Today’s sale ties Anheuser-Busch InBev as the biggest issuer of non-financial bonds this year, Bloomberg data show.

The bond offering from the world’s largest brewery comes just a week after U.S. corporate bond yields fell to the lowest of 2009. Seeking to refinance debt taken on in its $52 billion acquisition last year, Anheuser-Busch InBev has fired workers, cut brand-marketing budgets and sold assets. Anheuser-Busch InBev added a 30-year maturity on investor demand for longer- dated debt.

“If you look at their previous offerings, this is attractive pricing for the company,” B. Craig Hutson, an analyst with Gimme Credit LLC, said in a telephone interview from Chicago.

Last week, Anheuser-Busch InBev said it agreed to sell its amusement-park business, including SeaWorld and Busch Gardens, to Blackstone Group LP for as much as $2.7 billion. The sale “will help enhance its credit profile,” Hutson at Gimme Credit wrote today in a research note.

Issue Details

Anheuser-Busch InBev’s $1.5 billion of 3-year, 3 percent notes priced to yield 160 basis points more than similar- maturity Treasuries; the $1.25 billion of 5-year, 4.125 percent debt paid a spread of 185 basis points; the $2.25 billion of 10- year, 5.375 percent securities paid 210 basis points; and the $500 million of 30-year, 6.375 percent bonds paid 220 basis points, Bloomberg data show. Including today’s sale, Anheuser- Busch InBev has sold $13.5 billion of dollar-denominated debt this year, Bloomberg data show.

Carlos Brito, Anheuser-Busch InBev’s chief executive officer, said in a September interview that there will be “much more” room for the company to expand internationally, including through acquisitions, once it has paid down more of its debt.

After reaching a high this year of 8.42 percent, investment-grade bond yields fell 356 basis points to 4.86 percent on Oct. 7, the lowest in 2009, according to Merrill Lynch & Co.’s U.S. Corporate Master index. Yields declined 7.8 basis points to 4.94 percent today. A basis point is 0.01 percentage point.

30-Year Bonds

Anheuser-Busch InBev added a 30-year maturity to its offering on investor demand for higher-yielding, longer-dated debt. Pensions and insurance companies are seeking those maturities to match their liabilities, said Richard Familetti, who helps oversee $3 billion of bonds at Ryan Labs Inc., a money-management and research firm in New York.

“Large accounts have trouble getting the size that they need from the secondary market,” Familetti said in a telephone interview. Ryan Labs was participating in the offering for Anheuser-Busch InBev’s 30-year bonds, Familetti said.

The debt is likely to be rated Baa2 by Moody’s Investors Service and BBB+ by Standard & Poor’s, Bloomberg data show. Anheuser-Busch InBev is based in Leuven, Belgium.

Anheuser-Busch InBev last sold U.S. dollar denominated debt in May, issuing $1.55 billion of five-year, 5.375 percent notes that priced at a 337.5 basis point spread, $1 billion of 10- year, 6.875 percent debt that paid a 375 basis point spread and $450 million of 30-year, 8 percent bonds at a spread of 390 basis points, according to Bloomberg data.

AT&T Inc., based in Dallas, sold $5.5 billion of bonds on Jan. 29, Bloomberg data show. Pharmaceutical companies Roche Holding AG, based in Basel, and Pfizer Inc. of New York have also issued $13.5 billion of debt this year.

To contact the reporters on this story: Nikolaj Gammeltoft in New York at ngammeltoft@bloomberg.net; John Detrixhe in New York at jdetrixhe1@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: October 13, 2009 19:22 EDT