Thailand’s TCC Said to Bid for OCBC’s Beverage Stakes
Thai Beverage Pcl (THBEV), Thailand’s
biggest beer maker, said it’s in talks to buy Oversea-Chinese
Banking Corp.’s S$2.85 billion ($2.3 billion) stakes in Fraser
Neave Ltd. (FNN) and Asia Pacific Breweries.
OCBC and its Great Eastern Holdings Ltd. (EH) unit are in talks
with a bidder for their stakes, according to a stock exchange
filing in Singapore July 16. Thai Beverage released the
statement on the Singapore exchange following OCBC’s statement
and reports of its connection in the transaction, it said.
Brewers including Asahi Group Holdings Ltd. (2502) and Kirin
Holdings Co. have said they’re targeting takeovers in Southeast
Asia, where young populations and growing economies are spurring
beer sales. The population of Indonesia, the Philippines,
Vietnam, Thailand and Malaysia will grow to more than 564
million by 2017 from 519 million in 2011, according to
International Monetary Fund estimates compiled by Bloomberg.
“If you look at beer makers’ profitability, the more share
they have, the more margin they get,” said Masashi Mori, an
analyst at Deutsche Bank AG in Tokyo. “So both internally and
externally, the size expansion is the tried and true tactic for
beer makers.”
Thai Beverage is also Thailand’s largest whiskey producer.
Shares of Fraser Neave, Singapore’s biggest beverage maker,
and Asia Pacific Breweries (APB) climbed to an all-time high yesterday
after OCBC’s announcement.
“The company is presently in discussions to explore the
possibility of acquiring the shareholders referred to in the
joint announcement” by OCBC and Great Eastern, Thapana
Sirivadhanabhakdi, Thai Beverage’s chief executive officer, said
in the statement today. “No definitive binding agreement has
yet been entered into.”
Heineken’s Stake
The stake in Fraser Neave was worth S$2.1 billion at
yesterday’s closing price in Singapore, while the Asia Pacific
Breweries holding was valued at S$757 million. OCBC, Singapore’s
second-biggest bank, and Great Eastern hold 18.2 percent of
Fraser Neave and 7.92 percent of Asia Pacific Breweries,
according to their filing.
Thai Beverage is controlled by TCC Group, controlled by
Thai billionaire Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi, who also owns
companies in industries ranging from insurance to property
development.
Charoen wasn’t available to comment because he is traveling,
according to a person who answered the phone at his office in
Bangkok yesterday and declined to be identified. Koh Ching Ching,
a spokeswoman for OCBC, also declined to comment yesterday.
Kirin, Heineken
Kirin, Japan’s largest brewer by market value, bought 14.7
percent of Fraser Neave two years ago for S$1.34 billion,
paying S$6.50 each per share. The stock rose 2.5 percent
yesterday to close at S$8.10.
Heineken NV (HEIA), the world’s third-largest brewer, owns a 42
percent stake in Asia Pacific Breweries, the maker of Tiger beer.
Fraser Neave owns 40 percent. The brewer’s shares jumped 6.7
percent to close at S$37 yesterday.
Heineken said yesterday in a statement that it has noted
the announcement on Fraser Neave and Asia Pacific Breweries
and is “actively considering” its options. The company didn’t
say whether it plans to make an offer for Asia Pacific Breweries.
Kirin (2503) spokesman Kan Yamamoto declined to comment.
Charoen was born and raised in Bangkok’s Chinatown district
after his parents moved from Shantau in China, according to
TCC’s website.
He started a trading business that supplied distilleries,
and became a distiller after being awarded concessions to
produce liquor in Thailand. Charoen bid for the rights to
operate distilleries under the Sang Som Group during the
liberalization of the nation’s liquor industry, and later
expanded into beer, alcohol, sugar, and packaging businesses,
according to the company.
Thai Beverage sold shares in Singapore in 2006 after anti-
alcohol protesters blocked an offering in its home market. The
company offered to buy Serm Suk Pcl (SSC), the bottler of PepsiCo Inc. (PEP)
beverages in the Southeast Asian nation, for as much as 15.4
billion baht ($488 million) last September, saying the purchase
will allow it to expand its “non-alcoholic product portfolio.”
To contact the reporters on this story:
Cathy Chan in Hong Kong at
kchan14@bloomberg.net;
Elffie Chew in Kuala Lumpur at
echew16@bloomberg.net;
Joyce Koh in Singapore at
jkoh38@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Philip Lagerkranser at
lagerkranser@bloomberg.net
The Fraser Neave Ltd Logo
Munshi Ahmed/Bloomberg
TCC Group, the owner of Thailand’s biggest beer maker, offered to buy Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp.’s S$2.7 billion ($2.1 billion) stakes in Fraser Neave Ltd. and Asia Pacific Breweries, said two people with knowledge of the matter.
TCC Group, the owner of Thailand’s biggest beer maker, offered to buy Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp.’s S$2.7 billion ($2.1 billion) stakes in Fraser Neave Ltd. and Asia Pacific Breweries, said two people with knowledge of the matter. Photographer: Munshi Ahmed/Bloomberg
