'Party acting in concert' for offer to F&N
Thai Beverage said it was cooperating with an entity that might bid for Fraser & Neave, the Singapore-based conglomerate that is in a deal to sell its stake in an Asian brewery to Heineken.
“A party acting in concert” with the Thai brewer is exploring the possibility of an offer for F&N, said ThaiBev, controlled by billionaire Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi, in a statement to Singapore’s stock exchange yesterday.
Any controlling investor in F&N would have a voice when shareholders vote on the Dutch company’s S$5.4-billion (Bt136-billion) offer for the Singapore-based company’s 40-per-cent stake in Tiger beer maker Asia Pacific Breweries (APB) this month. After selling the brewing stake, F&N would still own businesses ranging from soft drinks to serviced apartment buildings.
The potential bidder is probably one of Charoen’s companies, said Goh Han Peng, analyst at DMG & Partners Research in Singapore. He said it could also be a brewer or developer interested in F&N’s real-estate operations.
ThaiBev has a 29-per-cent stake in F&N, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
“Anything close to a 50-per-cent stake would allow them to block Heineken,” Goh said.
Fraser & Neave fell 0.4 per cent to S$8.52 as of 10.29am in Singapore trading, headed for the first drop in four days.
PROPERTY OPERATIONS
Fraser & Neave got about 30 per cent of its 2011 revenue of S$6.3 billion from its property division, about 12 per cent from soft drinks and 17 per cent from dairies, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Charoen’s unlisted business TCC Group has a real-estate arm, while ThaiBev sells non-alcoholic drinks in addition to beer and spirits.
“There is no certainty that an offer for F&N will materialise,” ThaiBev said in its statement. The brewer said it was not seeking funding for a general offer for F&N, and was instead getting refinancing proposals for a loan taken to finance an earlier investment in the Singapore company.
Vichate Tantiwanich, a spokesman for ThaiBev, confirmed to The Nation yesterday that some investors were interested in joining the bid for F&N shares as “a party acting in concert”. But he declined to disclose the name of the third party and had no comment on whether it was in the property industry.
However, he insisted that ThaiBev maintained its 29.1-per-cent stake in F&N.
Heineken, the world’s third-biggest brewer, in August raised its offer for a controlling stake in APB to S$53 a share from S$50. The Dutch brewer has sought full control of APB as it attempts to protect its hold over a key emerging-markets business and as brewing assets in high-growth economies are in short supply after a decade of consolidation in the industry.
Kindest Place Groups, controlled by Charoen’s son-in- law, has an 8.6-per-cent stake in APB, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
APB, set up in 1931 as a joint venture between F&N and Heineken, has rights to brew Bintang beer in Indonesia, Anchor in China, Southeast Asia and Sri Lanka, and Heineken from China to New Zealand.
