Asahi : Japan's Asahi to sell $1.5 billion in shares to help pay for Australia beer unit

Japanese beverage maker Asahi Group Holdings said on Tuesday it would raise up to $1.5 billion in a share offering to help repay loans taken out to buy a beer company in Australia.

The company said it would sell up to 157.5 billion yen in shares in Japan and the United States. The offering will be composed of about 20.9 million new shares, along with treasury shares and a secondary offering of stock.

Its $11 billion purchase of Anheuser-Busch InBev's Australian business, Carlton & United Breweries, closed in June.

Asahi has been pursuing international growth due to a shrinking population and declining beer consumption at home.

($1 = 106.1200 yen)

(Reporting by Chris Gallagher and Rocky Swift in Tokyo; Editing by Tom Hogue)