Canada: Molson Coors declines to comment on rumoured interest in Canada's Sleeman brewery

Canada's largest independent brewer, Sleeman Breweries Ltd., is for sale, and if Molson Coors puts in a winning bid, the company could control half the country's lucrative beer market.

Guelph, Ontario-based -Sleeman Breweries Ltd. has been working since May with an investment bank to examine its strategy. The company set a Monday deadline for interested bidders, according to the Globe & Mail, one of Canada's national, Toronto-based newspapers.

Denver-based Molson Coors, which owns Coors Light and Molson Canadian, and InBev, owner of Labatt's and the Canadian distributor of Budweiser, are two of the interested parties, the newspaper reported. Each company has roughly 42 percent of the country's beer market.

Molson Coors spokesman Paul De La Plante declined to comment, citing company policy against statements about merger discussions. A Sleeman spokeswoman also declined to comment.

Sleeman, a family-controlled company that trades on the Toronto Stock Exchange, sells about 7 percent of the beer in Canada through nine Sleeman brands, plus the ownership, licensing and distribution of other beers such as Stroh's Canada. At current market values, Sleeman's is worth about $220 million.

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