Bond Launches Bid for Heileman Brewing

Australian brewer Alan Bond launched a $38-a-share buyout offer Friday for G. Heileman Brewing Co., the fourth-largest U.S. beer maker, in a $1.01-billion deal that Bond said would create a major international brewing business.

Stock in the La Crosse-based Heileman soared after a subsidiary of Perth, Australia-based Bond Corp. Holdings offered publicly to acquire the company’s 26.6 million common shares outstanding. Bond is the millionaire sailor who captured the America’s Cup for Australia in 1983.

Heileman jumped $8.25 a share to $42.125 in heavy New York Stock Exchange trading Friday, indicating that investors were speculating that a higher bid would emerge.