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| Heineken unsettled by Thai move on Tiger Beer | ||
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| Jay Theriot |
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American-Style Lager Specialist  Registered Member #113 Joined: Thu Jun 18 2009, 04:42PMCity & State: Laplace, Louisiana Posts: 2036 Thanked 370 times in 297 posts | Heineken, the world's third-largest brewer, warned it would act to protect its interests in Asia, after the founder of Thailand's leading beer and spirits group bid for a stake worth $1.6 billion in its partner in the region. The Asia Pacific region is a fast-growing one for Heineken, where it brews Tiger Beer with Singaporean partner Fraser and Neave (F&N). -Website Link-  | ||
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| Beer Cub |
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  Registered Member #510 Joined: Sat Jul 07 2012, 08:02AMCity & State: Cheyenne, Wyoming Posts: 305 Thanked 84 times in 63 posts | Here is an update on the Heineken/Tiger saga. Looks like it is coming to a head: Heineken's Bid For Control Of Tiger Beer Could Force Breakup Of Fraser & Neave SINGAPORE--Heineken NV's bid to take control of a joint venture that owns Tiger Beer could force the breakup of a lucrative Singaporean conglomerate: Fraser & Neave Ltd. (F99.SG). By Friday, board members of F&N will decide whether they will recommend to shareholders that they accept the $4 billion offer from Heinken to take full control of Asia Pacific Breweries. Analysts say if Heineken succeeds in its bid to take over Asia Pacific Breweries Ltd., maker of Tiger Beer, F&N would be stripped of its most attractive asset, ultimately forcing the breakup of the property, publishing and beer conglomerate. At stake is F&N's future, which could transform the company from a food & beverages-dominated business to a property-focused firm. "There are very little synergies between the beer operations, real estate, and publishing, and one reason the conglomerate might break itself up is to unlock value," said Xavier Jean, an associate director in the corporate ratings practice at Standard & Poor's. If the F&N board recommends the deal, an extraordinary general meeting would be called in which shareholders would vote on the offer that could see the Singaporean company making a one-time gain of more than $3.5 billion. But if the board rejects the deal, F&N would still be vulnerable to a takeover given rivals are building up stakes in the company. And Heineken has already indicated that if F&N declines its offer, it will review "all options available to protect its commercial interests." On Thursday, people familiar with the situation said that Japanese beer company Kirin Holdings, which has a 15% stake in F&N, is considering a bid for the Singapore company's soft drinks and dairy assets. If Heineken and Kirin are successful, that would leave F&N with just publishing and property assets. At stake is a foothold in the Asian beer market, which has become the next battleground for beer makers because of its swelling middle class. Asia is the largest beer market in the world, with almost a quarter of the US$615.8 billion in global beer sales last year, and one of the fastest-growing, according to Euromonitor International. With beer consumption flat in the West, beer makers are increasingly counting on consumers in rapidly growing economies such as China and India to boost their bottom lines. F&N's beer business contributed about 44% of the group earnings in the six month period ended March 31. That compares with 19% for property, 8% for publishing and 28% from the non-beer business. Jit Soon Lim, research analyst with Nomura, said that without Asia Pacific Breweries, Kirin and ThaiBev may push for a demerger of other businesses in order to value the property and food and beverages businesses separately. Established more than a century ago by two Britons--banker John Fraser and businessman David Neave--F&N started its operations as a printing business and slowly expanded into soft drinks in 1883. It then entered the brewing business in 1931 when the company and Heineken formed a 50-50 joint venture to establish Malayan Breweries Ltd., now called Asia Pacific Breweries. Based in Singapore, Asia Pacific Breweries has a portfolio of more than 40 beer brands in the Asia Pacific region including Tiger and Heineken beer. It has a presence in 14 countries including Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, China, New Zealand and Mongolia. Despite a partnership of more than 80 years, Heinken's surprise bid last week to buy out F&N's stake in Asia Pacific Breweries came after companies linked to Thai tycoon Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi--Thai Beverage PCL and Kindest Place Group, owned by Mr. Charoen's son-in-law--entered into agreements to buy a 22% stake in F&N, as well an 8.6% holding in Asia Pacific Breweries in separate transactions worth a combined $3 billion. Heineken owns a direct 9.5% stake in Asia Pacific Breweries, while F&N owns 7.3%. Their 50-50 joint venture called Asia Pacific Investment Pvt. owns a combined 64.8% of Asia Pacific Breweries. The other shareholders of Asia Pacific Breweries are trusts and nominees. A Fraser & Neave spokeswoman declined to comment on the board meeting. Last Friday, Fraser & Neave said that its board was considering the Heineken offer which remains open for acceptance until this Friday. http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20120726-707211.html | ||
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| Jay Theriot |
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| American-Style Lager Specialist Registered Member #113 Joined: Thu Jun 18 2009, 04:42PMCity & State: Laplace, Louisiana Posts: 2036 Thanked 370 times in 297 posts | This is really interesting. | ||
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| Beer Cub |
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| Registered Member #510 Joined: Sat Jul 07 2012, 08:02AMCity & State: Cheyenne, Wyoming Posts: 305 Thanked 84 times in 63 posts | Looks like a done deal as Heineken reportedly buys maker of Tiger... Heineken agrees deal for Tiger beer maker: sources Heineken (HEIN.AS) won control on Friday of the Asian brewing group which makes Tiger beer when Singapore's Fraser and Neave (F&N) agreed to sell its stake in the firm for over $4 billion, sources with knowledge of the situation said. Heineken raised its bid to secure the deal over the prized Asia Pacific Breweries (APB) (APBB.SI) which will lift the Dutch group's Asian profits and could break apart F&N (FRNM.SI), a drinks and property group. "The deal has been agreed by Heineken and F&N's management, and the agreement will now go for approval by the F&N board and then be announced officially," said one of the sources. Heineken already owns 42 percent of APB, which runs 24 Asian breweries, and taking F&N's 40 percent stake will help the Amsterdam company to defend its turf against Thailand's second-richest man. It had given F&N a Friday deadline to agree a sale, and the sources said the deal had been agreed in principle at a price slightly higher than Heineken's initial offer of S$50 an APB share. F&N's board would rubber stamp the sale, they added. Heineken was unavailable for immediate comment, but the sources said an official announcement is being prepared for release later on Friday. Heineken shares were up 0.5 percent at 44.67 euros by 6:30 a.m. EDT (1030 GMT), while APB and F&N shares were suspended on Thursday and Friday pending a deal. VITAL DEAL By winning APB, Heineken gets full ownership of Tiger, Bintang, Anchor and other brands of beer plus two dozen breweries in 14 countries including Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand and Cambodia. Around 30 percent of APB's volumes are for the Heineken beer brand. The deal is vital for Heineken in the fast-growing Asian market. For the world's third-largest brewer, control of APB is set to raise the proportion of profits it gets from Asia to 15 percent from 6 percent, analysts said, boosting the growth rate of the whole group. Sources said Coca-Cola (KO.N) is keeping a keen eye on F&N's other lines - which include the popular soft-drink 100PLUS, fruit juices, mineral water and dairy products - in the event they are hived off from the Singapore group's property assets. That could pit Coca-Cola against two sizeable Asian brewers, Thai Beverage (TBEV.SI) and Japan's Kirin Holdings (2503.T), which have their own interests to protect as F&N shareholders. Shares in F&N and APB were suspended after sources told Reuters that F&N's board, whose chairman Lee Hsien Yang is the younger son of Singapore's elder statesman Lee Kuan Yew, wanted a better offer, fuelling speculation that F&N was haggling with Heineken over the price. Heineken began brewing Tiger with F&N in the 1930s but that long partnership hit the rocks after Thai Beverage and other companies linked to Thai billionaire Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi bought stakes in F&N and APB for $3 billion last month. The investment by Charoen, who is seeking to expand his own beer business in Asia, pushed Heineken into a general offer for APB. Heineken also offered to buyout minority shareholders in APB, pushing the deal to well above $6 billion. F&N shares have jumped 31.5 percent this year to close at S$8.15 on Wednesday but have come off a record S$8.49. APB shares, which last traded at S$49.50, have surged 71.9 percent since the start of the year. -Website Link-  | ||
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| Jay Theriot |
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| American-Style Lager Specialist Registered Member #113 Joined: Thu Jun 18 2009, 04:42PMCity & State: Laplace, Louisiana Posts: 2036 Thanked 370 times in 297 posts | Wow! Heineken is so powerful! | ||
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| Beer Cub |
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| Registered Member #510 Joined: Sat Jul 07 2012, 08:02AMCity & State: Cheyenne, Wyoming Posts: 305 Thanked 84 times in 63 posts | Thai billionaire says 'not so fast' as bidding war for the Asian beer market continues... Heineken bid for Tiger Beer faces Thai challenge SINGAPORE, Aug 7 (Reuters) - Heineken's $6 billion bid to take full control of Tiger Beer maker Asia Pacific Breweries faces a challenge from a group led by Thai billionaire Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi, which has put in a higher bid to increase its stake in APB. Kindest Place Groups, a vehicle owned by Charoen's son-in-law, on Tuesday made an unsolicited offer of S$55 a share to buy Singapore conglomerate Fraser and Neave's (F&N) direct 7.3 percent stake in APB, F&N said in a corporate filing. The move comes after Singapore's F&N agreed to sell its direct and indirect stake in APB to Heineken for S$5.1 billion ($4.1 billion), which worked out to S$50 a share. F&N controls about 40 percent of APB, most of it via a joint venture with Heineken. The Dutch brewer said on Tuesday it had no comment on the offer by the Thai group. Should Kindest Place succeed with its offer, it will control more than 15 percent of APB, having already agreed to buy 7.9 percent of the beer maker from Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp and its insurance unit Great Eastern Holdings . Charoen can also try and block the sale of APB to Heineken by voting against the deal through Thai Beverage PCL, which he controls. ThaiBev, the maker of Chang Beer, is F&N's biggest shareholder with about 24 percent. Heineken will make a general offer for the remaining APB shares after the sale by F&N is put to a shareholders' vote. F&N directors have already agreed to the deal. Charoen and ThaiBev had not previously indicated whether they supported or opposed the sale of APB to Heineken. Japanese beermaker Kirin, F&N's second-largest shareholder with about 15 percent, has also not made its views known. F&N said Kindest Place's offer will lapse at 5:00 pm Singapore time on Aug 16. -Website Link- | ||
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| Beer Cub |
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| Registered Member #510 Joined: Sat Jul 07 2012, 08:02AMCity & State: Cheyenne, Wyoming Posts: 305 Thanked 84 times in 63 posts | Heineken continues to up the ante in their battle for Tiger... -Website Link- Dutch brewer Heineken launched a S$5.1bn (£2.6bn), or S$50 a share bid in July for a majority stake in Asia Pacific Breweries (APB), the Singapore-based maker of Tiger beer. But rival Kindest Place Groups, which is owned by the son of Thai billionaire Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi, has offered to buy 7.3pc of APB from Fraser & Neave (F&N) for S$55 per share. Heineken already owns almost 42pc of APB and is seeking full control in a bid to expand its presence in the fast-growing Asian market. Joint-venture partner F&N has a 39.7pc stake. Heineken is now in talks with F&N about raising its offer to see off the Thai challenge, Bloomberg reported, citing three sources. Trading in F&N and APB was halted in Singapore on Friday at the companies' request. Both cited the "pending release of an announcement". “At the end of the day, the F&N board needs to decide whether selling everything for S$50 is a better outcome for shareholders than selling 7.3pc for S$55,” Jonathan Foster, director of Global Special Situations at Religare Capital Markets, told Bloomberg. “It just depends on how that negotiation goes between Heineken and the F&N board, and how tough Heineken is able to play it.” Heineken, which commands a 8.8pc share of the global beer market, has the smallest presence in emerging markets compared with rivals Anheuser-Busch InBev, which makes Budweiser and Stella Artois, and London-based SAB Miller. [ Edited Fri Aug 17 2012, 07:42AM ] | ||
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