Too soon to speculate on F&N hospitality assets: Analyst

Speculation a bidding war might emerge for F&N’s hospitality assets is “a non-starter,” an analyst says. “That business is not for sale,” he notes. “It’s too early to speculate. We have to wait for the (Thai group’s) offer to finish.”

Ascott CEO Chong Kee Hiong told Dow Jones in an interview the world’s largest serviced-apartment operator is studying F&N’s hospitality assets, but has no current plans to bid.

“What it means, really, is that clearly if they wanted to break up the company, then a lot of people are interested,” the analyst says. “It shows there’s a lot of value.”

F&N is flat at $8.90; ThaiBev is up 1.25% to $0.4050 in strong volume, suggesting institutional interest.