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| Heineken inches closer to controlling Tiger beer maker |
| Singapore, 23.08.2012 |
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| Heineken raised its stake in Asia Pacific Breweries (APB) to about 44.6% after buying shares from Singapore’s Temasek Holdings and other shareholders, underlining its resolve to gain control of the maker of Tiger beer.
The S$367 million ($293.84 million) worth of APB shares that Heineken bought is just a fraction of its $6.35 billion offer for the Singapore-listed brewer. But the purchases inch Heineken one small step forward in trying to seize full control of its prized Asian business.
Last week, Heineken gained the approval of Singapore conglomerate Fraser and Neave (F&N), a key APB shareholder, for a sweetened offer. But it could still face a challenge from Thai Beverage, a shareholder of F&N.
Heineken’s revised bid is subject to shareholder approval, the date for which is yet to be decided.
Billionaire Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi’s Thai Beverage owns 26.4% of F&N, while Japan’s Kirin Holdings has a 14.9% stake in the conglomerate.
Buying Temasek’s small stake is just another step Heineken is taking to strengthen its grip on APB and to “prevent the Thais from throwing another spanner into their plan”, said Andy Sim, an analyst at DBS Vickers in Singapore. The Thai suitors could have also purchased the Temasek stake.
Heineken said it bought Temasek’s holding through a block trade and other shares in the open market.
The Dutch brewer said it now holds a direct stake in APB of 12.18% after purchasing a 2.68% share from the open market. The remaining 32.4% stake is held through its joint venture with F&N.
A Temasek spokeswoman confirmed that the Singapore state investor had sold its stake in APB, but did not identify the buyer. According to stock exchange data, there was a block deal at S$53 on Tuesday.
The trade was between Temasek and Heineken, said the sources, declining to be identified because the information was confidential.
APB shares were flat at S$53 on Wednesday, while F&N shares fell 1.1% to S$8.26.
Growing beer markets
The Dutch brewer on Wednesday forecast flat earnings for the full year with emerging market growth helping to make up for a first half hit by a weak western Europe and higher costs.
Heineken, which raised its offer for APB by 6% to S$53 per share, is seeking control of the Singapore-listed company to gain a larger slice of one of the last beer markets that is still growing rapidly.
The new offer has placed the spotlight back onto Charoen, Thailand’s second-richest man, and his son-in-law’s company Kindest Place, which offered to buy F&N’s direct stake of 7.3% in APB for S$55 a share.
By buying Temasek’s stake in APB, Heineken may be trying to block another Thai advance, other sources familiar with the deal told Reuters.
Kindest Place already has 8.6% of APB, so if it had bought Temasek’s stake, the Thai family would have held about 10% of APB, which could prevent Heineken from delisting APB.
“Heineken has said clearly this is the final price they’re offering and they won’t raise it, so the market sees this as the price cap in absence of any other major development,” said Goh Han Peng, analyst at DMG and Partners.
“All eyes will be on Kindest Place or ThaiBev’s next moves, but we believe a competing offer for APB by Kindest is unlikely given the financial resources required,” Goh said.
Heineken’s latest offer came with a commitment from F&N not to solicit, engage in talks or accept any alternative offer or proposal for its interests in APB.
“The sale of F&N’s stakes in APB in its entirety to Heineken at the improved price would better maximise overall returns for F&N shareholders,” F&N Chairman Lee Hsien Yang said in a statement on Saturday.
F&N, which stands to gain S$4.77 billion from the disposal of APB, could pay out special dividends and see upside in its stock from reinvestment, CIMB Research said.
The conglomerate’s earnings will likely decline if APB is sold, Nomura said, adding that the beer maker accounted for about 48% of the group’s earnings for the nine months ended June.
Among Southeast Asian brewers, APB is the sixth largest in terms of sales volume across the Asia-Pacific region. ThaiBev is fourth, according to Euromonitor’s latest data for 2011. Reuters
Eveline Danubrata and Denny Thomas contributed to this story.
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Address : Euro-Brew Ltd., Hlboká 22, 917 01 Trnava, Slovakia
Tel. : +421 33 53 418 53, Fax : +421 33 53 418 52, E-mail : info@eurobrew.sk |
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