OUE fails to mount rival bid for F&N
Overseas Union Enterprise (OUE) yesterday disappointed Fraser & Neave shareholders by failing to announce a rival bid against that of Thai tycoon Charoen Sirivadhanacharoen's for the Singaporean conglomerate.
At 6.30pm Singapore time, there was no announcement from OUE though the Singapore Exchange closed at 5pm. The F&N share price ended lower, to close at 9.13 Singapore dollars, down by 0.87 per cent from the previous closing.
Closing at S$9.21 on the previous day, the share price opened at S$9.18 and hit a new high of S$9.24.
Charoen’s TCC Assets Co has offered S$8.80 for each F&N share. Seeking full control of F&N, TCC Assets would need to raise the offer if OUE offered more. TCC Assets extended the deadline of its offer twice, from October 29 to November 10 and then to November 22.
OUE announced on November 7 that it had appointed Credit Suisse (Singapore) and Merrill Lynch (Singapore) as its financial advisers and other professionals to assist it in considering its options with respect to F&N.
Awaiting the recommendation of its financial advisers, OUE said it would clarify its intentions no later than yesterday.
Meanwhile, F&N announced that it had completed the disposal of interests in Asia Pacific Breweries and Asia Pacific Investment to Heineken yesterday. After the transaction, the Dutch brewer will hold a 95.3-per-cent stake in APB, maker of Tiger beer.
Heineken also announced that it would make a mandatory general offer for all the shares of APB that the group does not already own, in accordance with the Singapore Code on Takeovers and Mergers.
The deal went smoothly after Charoen’s Thai Beverage backed off from its battle against Heineken for APB, to refocus its interest in F&N’s food and property businesses.
