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The Straits Times
www.straitstimes.com
Published on Aug 08, 2012
Surprise new bid for APB shares
Thai firm's offer to F&N is higher than Heineken's on a per-share valuation
By Jonathan Kwok & Yasmine Yahya
A FRESH billion-dollar bidding war has erupted for the company behind Singapore's Tiger Beer.
Just when a $5.1 billion offer from Dutch brewing giant Heineken to acquire Fraser & Neave's (F&N) breweries stake looked set to go through, a new offer emerged yesterday.
A firm linked to Thai billionaire Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi - the man behind Chang Beer - has made an unsolicited bid of $1.03 billion, or $55 a share, to buy 7.3 per cent of Asia Pacific Breweries (APB) from F&N.
That tops the $50 per share offered by Heineken, although it is for a smaller stake.
What is shaping up to be one of Singapore's hottest corporate battles started last month when Mr Charoen's Singapore-listed Thai Beverage agreed to pay $2.8 billion for a 22 per cent stake in F&N, to become its biggest shareholder.
Heineken, which has jointly run APB with F&N since 1931 and worried about the entry of a competing brewer, swiftly responded. It put in a bid for F&N's APB stake at $50 apiece.
Last Friday, F&N's board accepted Heineken's offer and agreed to recommend that shareholders accept it as well.
Now the latest move upsets the apple cart. Kindest Place Groups, owned by Mr Charoen's son-in-law, is offering to buy 18.75 million APB shares from F&N. The offer will lapse at 5pm on Thursday next week.
"The board of the company will review and evaluate the offer," said F&N in a statement.
Kindest Place's offer is for a much smaller stake of APB than Heineken's bid. It is seeking only F&N's 7.3 per cent direct stake in APB, whereas Heineken wants F&N's stake in Asia Pacific Investment and its direct APB stake.
Asia Pacific Investment is the joint venture between Heineken and F&N that holds the bulk of APB shares. In all, F&N has a deemed and direct stake of about 40 per cent of the brewer.
Market observers read the move as one to force a rethink by F&N's board, owing to the higher per-share valuation of APB. The board may have to ask Heineken for a better price, observers say.
It may be a tactic by the Thais to delay Heineken's takeover of APB. It may also be an attempt to make sure they get into a better bargaining position.
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