Thursday, July 19, 2012

APB rises to record; Heineken eyed

Shares of Asia Pacific Breweries jumped to a record after companies linked to a Thai billionare agreed to buy stakes in the brewery and conglomerate Fraser and Neave.

APB shares jumped as much 15.5% to $44.00, just below the offer price of $45.00 per APB share. F&N shares were down 2.4% at $7.77.

F&N owns about 40% of APB, one of the region’s largest brewers and maker of the popular Tiger beer. Heineken owns about 42% of APB, a prized stake thanks to fast growing beer sales across Asia Pacific.

“There’s expectation that Heineken may want to defend its stake. If the deal is already done, they can’t do a counter-offer, but maybe they can try to buy APB shares from elsewhere,” said a local trader.

APB has a free float of around 17%.

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