By InvestAdvocate

Lagos (INVESTADVOCATE)-Nigeria’s top brewer, Nigerian Breweries Plc said it plans to raise N100 billion in debt to boost liquidity and support growth, according to a Bloomberg report.

The report says the debt sale, expected by October 8, will enable the beer maker to diversify its funding and attract non-bank investors, quoting Mark Rutten, finance director of the company in an e-mailed statement on Wednesday.

Nicolaas Vervelde, managing director of Nigeria Breweries says the move demonstrates the company’s commitment to Nigeria, where it owns 11 breweries.

According to the report, the fundraising comes as Nigeria suffers from lower crude prices, causing slower economic growth and declining government revenues.

Nigerian Breweries reported lower first-half profit in July, while smaller competitor Guinness Nigeria Plc said earlier this month that the economic situation had hurt consumption of pricier beer brands, the Bloomberg report added.

At the close of trading on the Nigerian bourse, shares of the beer maker dropped 0.01 percent to N147.00 from N147.01 traded the previous session; losing 0.01 kobo per share.