• Heineken May Be Out Muscled by Thai Billionaire in Tiger Deal

    August 9, 2012 Author: Scott
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    We reported a few days ago that Heineken was closing on a deal for Tiger beer in Asia.  It seems that there is now some unexpected competition.  Heineken originally offered $50 per share, but Thai billionaire Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi has countered that offer with a $55 per share asking price.

    “We are convinced that our bid is richer and offers more value to shareholders,” said a Heineken spokesman.

     

    Heineken shares fell to close 2.4 percent lower at 44.38 euros on worries about the prospect of a bidding war with the powerful Thai business family which could be pushing to control APB or just extract a higher price for its stake.

     

    “With this latest turn of events, Heineken’s current offer will fail. It will have to offer more than S$55 per share to outbid the Thai group, possibly S$60 per share,” said Goh Han Peng, analyst at DMG & Partners Securities in Singapore.

    Either way probably won’t change much in the world of big beer, but it would be nice to see big beer not getting bigger.

    Source: http://money.msn.com/

  • Heineken Moves Closer to Buying Asian Brewer

    August 6, 2012 Author: Scott
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    One of the largest beer brewers in the world has been looking to become larger, and it seems an agreement has finally been reached between Heineken and the Asian brewing group which makes Tiger beer.

    “The deal has been agreed by Heineken and F&N’s management, and the agreement will now go for approval by the F&N board and then be announced officially,” said one of the sources.

     

    Heineken already owns 42 percent of APB, which runs 24 Asian breweries, and taking F&N’s 40 percent stake will help the Amsterdam company to defend its turf against Thailand’s second-richest man.

    I’m not a fan of seeing big beer get bigger as it almost always tends to be more about the money than for the love of brewing good beer.

    By winning APB, Heineken gets full ownership of Tiger, Bintang, Anchor and other brands of beer plus two dozen breweries in 14 countries including Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand and Cambodia. Around 30 percent of APB’s volumes are for the Heineken beer brand.

     

    The deal is vital for Heineken in the fast-growing Asian market. For the world’s third-largest brewer, control of APB is set to raise the proportion of profits it gets from Asia to 15 percent from 6 percent, analysts said, boosting the growth rate of the whole group.

    So there you have it, the world’s third largest beer brewing doing what it can to keep pace with InBev and MillerCoors and helping to ensure mass produced, flavorless beer will be available for everyone.

    Source:  http://money.msn.com/