Thai billionaire Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi made a $9 billion bid for the the rest of conglomerate Fraser & Neave, creating a hurdle for Heineken NV in its efforts to buy an Asian brewer.
Charoen’s TCC Assets, linked to his Thai Beverage Pcl, offered to pay $8.88 a share for about 71% of Singapore-based F&N, TCC said in a filing today. The bid is about 4.3% more than F&N’s closing price yesterday.
Heineken, which last month offered about US$4.4 billion ($5.4 billion) for F&N’s stake in Tiger beer maker Asia Pacific Breweries, may need to win the Thai billionaire’s backing to buy the brewer. Charoen is making his bid ahead of a Sept 28 meeting where F&N shareholders will vote on the Dutch company’s proposal.
ThaiBev said it “may have the benefit of exercising greater influence over F&N,” according to today’s statement.
Purchasing F&N would widen Charoen’s influence in Asia and help Thai Bev diversify overseas. The Thai brewer got 96% of its revenue from its home country in 2011, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Thai Bev already owns about 29% of F&N, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Fraser & Neave got about 30% of its 2011 revenue of $6.3 billion from its property division, about 12% from soft drinks and 17% from dairies, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Charoen’s unlisted business TCC Group has a real estate arm and Thai Beverage sells non-alcoholic drinks in addition to beer and spirits.
Heineken, the world’s third-biggest brewer, in August raised its offer for a controlling stake in APB to $53 a share from $50. The Dutch brewer, which owns part of the brewer, has sought full control 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.
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