ThaiBev willing to share control of APB with Heineken
BANGKOK, Aug 8 – Thai Beverage Pcl, controlled by Thai billionaire Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi, is willing to share control of Asia Pacific Breweries (APB) with Dutch brewer Heineken, a source at the Thai company said.
Kindest Place Group, owned by Charoen’s son-in-law, put in a bid yesterday to increase its stake in APB. The Thai company said it will pay S$55 a share for Fraser and Neave’s direct stake in the Singapore maker of Tiger Beer. That is more than the S$50 a share offered by Heineken, which wants to take full control of APB.
“We are offering to buy just part of APB because we think Heineken should stay. We should be able to work together. We don’t want Heineken to be out,” said the source, who declined to be identified because he was not authorised to speak to the media on the matter.
He would not give more details, saying the Thai bid is subject to approval of the board and shareholders.
Thai Beverage owns about 24 per cent of Singapore food and property conglomerate Fraser and Neave, which owns 40 per cent of APB. Kindest Place owns 8.6 per cent of APB. – Reuters
