Brewery deal hops forward

Of the amount, $50 million is to hold 33.3 per cent of stakes at Masan Brewery. The remaining $600 million is to retain 14.3 per cent of stakes at Masan Consumer Holdings, which will use the investment to lift its holding rate at Masan Consumer from 77.8 per cent of stakes to 96.7 per cent.

In late December 2015 Masan Group Corporation (Masan) and Singha Asia Holding Pte Ltd. (Singha) signed agreements to form a strategic partnership. Upon investing $1.1 billion, Singha will own 25 per cent of Masan Consumer Holdings and 33.3 per cent of Masan Brewery. Masan Consumer Holdings will own the remaining 66.7 per cent of Masan Brewery. The transaction is expected to be concluded by February 2016.

The balance of the investment package, worth $450 million, will be transferred to raise the ownership rate of Singha at Masan Consumer Holdings to 25 per cent from the aforementioned 14.3 per cent level.

Through the partnership, Masan and Singha immediately enlarge their market as their combined food and beverage platform will be scaled up to better serve consumers in the region, with a focus on inland ASEAN countries (Vietnam, Thailand, Myanmar, Cambodia, and Laos), which have a total consumer base of nearly 250 million.

Chief executive officer of Singha Asia Palit Bhirombhakdi said that “I am confident that with Singha as a partner, Masan will be well received by Thailand’s 65 million consumers, where its key categories such as fish sauce and Vietnamese coffee are appreciated for their unique flavour and origin.”

He added that Masan’s strong distribution platform would allow Singha to access a fast-growing market of more than 90 million consumers and support an expansion into new categories.