DENVER (AP) – Adolph Coors Co. and Canada’s Molson Inc. announced plans to merge Thursday in a deal that would combine two old-line, family-run breweries into the third-largest beermaker in North America.

The new company will be known as Molson Coors Brewing Co. and will market such brands as Coors Original and Coors Light, Molson Canadian, Keystone and Carling.

The deal was described as a merger of equals and would create a company with annual revenue of about $6 billion, putting it behind Anheuser-Busch and SAB Miller as the largest beer companies in North America.

Golden-based Coors is the nation’s third-biggest brewer, while Montreal-based Molson is neck-and-neck with Labatt Brewing as Canada’s top beermaker.

“I am very proud to see the company started by my great-grandfather more than 130 years ago combine with a company of Molson’s caliber and heritage,” said Coors chairman Peter H. Coors, who is running for the U.S. Senate in Colorado.

Coors and Molson said their combination should generate $175 million a year by 2007 in cost savings and new revenue.

Molson was in 1786. Coors was established in 1873.

Molson chairman Eric Molson said: “This transaction allows us to create a stronger company in a consolidating global industry while preserving Molson’s rich heritage as North America’s oldest beer company and Canada’s leading brewer.”

The plan calls for Coors stockholders to receive one share of Molson Coors for each share of Coors.

The deal is subject to approval by regulators and by shareholders of both companies, with meetings expected in the fall.

A former Molson executive could create a hitch. The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday that former Molson deputy chairman Ian Molson is expected to make an offer to acquire Molson for as much as $4 billion. The offer would value the stock at about $30 a share, or more than 30 percent higher than the stock price before the merger was announced.

Ian Molson and Eric Molson, his cousin, have clashed about the brewery. Ian Molson resigned from the board in May over disagreements with his cousin.

But analysts have been skeptical of the rumored deal, saying they were uncertain how it would benefit the companies or save money. The U.S. market is flat and companies have begun working together to tap emerging markets overseas, particularly in China and South America.

If the deal goes through, Coors chief executive Leo Kiely will become CEO and Eric Molson chairman. The company will have executive headquarters in Denver and Montreal. Its operations in Canada will be managed from Toronto, and its U.S. operations will be managed from suburban Golden.

John Molson founded the company that bears his name in 1786. Coors was established in 1873 by Adolph Coors and Jacob Schueler. The voting stock in each is still controlled by descendants of the founders.

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On the Net:

Adolph Coors Co.: http://www.coors.com

Molson Inc.: http://www.molson.com

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