Canada: Molson Inc., Canada's biggest brewer, said Wednesday, January 19, it is delaying the release of its latest quarterly financial results until after shareholders vote on its proposed merger with Adolph Coors Co. Molson said its third-quarter results--previously scheduled for the day before investors vote on the transaction Jan. 28--will instead be made public Feb. 9. "The format of such issuance will depend on the outcome of the shareholder vote," Molson said in a brief statement.

Coors, the third-biggest U.S. brewer, and Molson have proposed to combine in a deal that would create a $6 billion brewer. In recent weeks Molson has sweetened terms of the original deal with a special cash dividend to Molson holders. Shareholder votes on the deal are Jan. 28 for Molson and Feb. 1 for Coors. If the merger is approved the newly formed Molson Coors Brewing Company would be the fifth biggest producer of beer by volume in the world with $6 billion US in sales.

Analyst Michael Palmer noted Molson had intended to release the results after the vote, which was delayed after the brewer last week again change the merger proposal terms, hiking by 67 per cent a special dividend to win support from more investors. But Palmer said the delay looks suspicious because analysts are expecting poor results from Molson for the period ended Dec. 31, 2004.

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