Heineken said Monday that it would buy the beer operations of Femsa, one of the biggest brewers in Mexico, in an all-share transaction that values the business at $7.6 billion. The move would further consolidate the beer industry into a few global players.

The move will make Heineken a “more competitive player in Latin America, one of the world’s most profitable and fastest-growing beer markets,” the chairman and chief executive of Heineken, Jean-François van Boxmeer, said in a statement.

Heineken will issue 86 million new shares to finance the deal, the first time it has done so for a takeover since 1968.

Heineken shares were up 1.075 euros, or 3.26 percent, to 34 euros on the Amsterdam exchange.

After the deal closes, Femsa will hold 20 percent of the Heineken Group, making it one of the Dutch brewer’s largest shareholders. Femsa will also have the right to appoint two nonexecutive directors. The transaction is expected be completed in the second quarter of 2010.