Heineken says purchase completed of 8.6% of Asian APB

September 25, 2012 | 15:13

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Heineken said on Tuesday it had completed its purchase of 8.6 percent of top Asian brewer APB, bringing the Dutch beer giant a step closer to taking control of APB and gaining an edge in Asia.

Heineken said in a statement that on Monday it had "completed the purchase of 22,207,130 shares in Asia Pacific Breweries Limited held by Kindest Place Groups Limited," in a deal worth around 741 million euros ($959 million).

Heineken announced its intention to purchase the shares on September 19.

Kindest Place Groups is controlled by the son-in-law of tycoon Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi, who controls Thai Beverage (ThaiBev) and TCC Assets that last week agreed to support Heineken's bid to gain control of Asia-Pacific Breweries.

Heineken in turn promised not to make a counter-offer for APB's parent company Fraser and Neave (F&N), which the Thais want to take over.

Heineken already owns 42 percent of Singapore-based APB and offered Sg$5.6 billion ($4.6 billion) for the 40-percent stake held by F&N.

This has to be ratified at an extraordinary general meeting of F&N shareholders on September 28.

APB, the crown jewel of F&N, makes Tiger Beer and other popular brands in Asia, where beer consumption is rapidly growing as sales taper off in mature markets like Europe, Heineken's traditional base.

APB, which has breweries in 14 countries including China, reported in August that its revenues for the third quarter to June rose almost 10 percent to Sg$781.33 million from a year ago.

A Heineken takeover of APB would give it an edge over other rivals in Southeast Asia as well as China.

AFP

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