the situation is kinda that it is difficult for KPGL to lose much on this, but KPGL can drive the price higher for Heineken's takeover(of course, everybody knows Heineken still can pay the price). The worst for KPGL would be that KPGL pays a dear price for F&N's 7.3% stake; but it would be much worse for Heineken as Heineken loses the status of the largest shareholder of APB, which is strategically important for Heineken.
Very good for F&N shareholders now that the $53 offer is firm.
ST reported today that F&N will return some of the proceeds from the sale of APB via share buy back of 1/3 of issued shares. shareholders will receive $8.50 for each lot of share. Is it worth selling off my shares at current price or hold on and receive the proceeds from the share buyback?
There is a letter to ST forum today on the F&N, APB saga.
The writer opined that it is unlikely that ThaiBev will vote against F&N selling its aggregate 40 per cent stake in APB to Heineken at the forthcoming shareholders' meeting.
I have a different view. imho, ThaiBev paid $8.88 for their shares, so it is rather unlikely they will be happy with the capital reduction at about $8.50 for each share cancelled. With 30% likely to vote against, kirin's vote remains crucial to the deal. It would be good if 90.9% of the other 55% shareholders vote yes and make kirin's vote irrelevant to the deal, but it is a challenge to accomplish.
Whatever the outcome of the deal, APB will likely be delisted as the free float is now less than 10%.
Just my random thoughts, these are not advice.
YES!! The offer has came!!
$8.88!!
No more bidding war following the mutual announcement by both parties...
End of the game perhaps
A fruitful trip nevertheless
Heineken NV (HEIA) cleared the biggest hurdle in its fight to take control of Asia Pacific Breweries Ltd. (APB) as billionaire Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi’s Thai Beverage PcL (THBEV) pledged to support the offer.
Thai Bev and TCC Assets Ltd. will back Heineken’s S$5.6 billion ($4.6 billion) bid for Fraser & Neave Ltd.’s 40 percent stake in the business at a shareholder meeting next week after the Dutch brewer agreed not to make a competing offer for F&N, the Amsterdam-based brewer said yesterday. Heineken had previously operated APB via a joint venture with F&N.
“For Heineken, this significantly improves the level of certainty that our offer will be approved,” at the meeting, said John Clarke, a spokesman for Heineken, by telephone.
TCC, controlled by Sirivadhanabhakdi, offered S$9 billion on Sept. 13 to buy the 70 percent of F&N he didn’t control, throwing Heineken’s takeover of APB into doubt. Heineken had originally been spurred to bid for control of APB, which it held 42 percent of, after a company controlled by Charoen’s son-in- law bought shares in APB.
The agreement “should be very positive for Heineken’s share price,” said Gerard Rijk, an analyst at ING Groep NV (INGA) in Amsterdam. “The company will not need to raise its offer further and it will be able to consolidate the APB business.”
F&N shareholders are scheduled to meet Sept. 28 to vote on Heineken’s offer to buy F&N’s shares in APB. F&N recommended that holders accept Heineken’s increased S$53-per-share bid in August. Heineken had said it would be its final offer.
Full Control
Heineken, the world’s third-largest brewer, has been at the center of a fight for APB as it seeks to gain full control of a vital emerging market asset. It distributes its brands, including the eponymous Heineken lager, in south-east Asia through the venture, giving it access to the fast-growing economies of the region as sales growth slows in developed markets including Europe.
F&N also has a food and soft-drinks unit and a real estate division. TCC Assets, linked to Charoen’s Thai Bev, offered S$8.88 a share for F&N. The bid is the largest announced by a Thai company in at least 10 years, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
APB has rights to brew Bintang beer in Indonesia, Anchor in China, Southeast Asia and Sri Lanka, and Heineken from China to New Zealand. Heineken has the smallest emerging-markets presence of the world’s big three brewers, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Charoen’s agreement to support Heineken’s offer for APB may spur speculation that he may want to break up F&N, a 129-year- old conglomerate. Japan’s Kirin Holdings Co. (2503) owns a 15 percent stake in F&N and had considered making a bid for its food and soft-drinks unit, several people with knowledge of the matter said in August. Coca-Cola Co. (KO) explored a bid for the drinks operations, people with knowledge said.
F&N got 30 percent of its 2011 revenue of S$6.3 billion from property, 12 percent from soft drinks and 17 percent from dairies, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
To contact the reporters on this story: Clementine Fletcher in London at cfletcher5@bloomberg.net; Stephanie Wong in Hong Kong at swong139@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Celeste Perri at cperri@bloomberg.net