Heineken NV will offer as much as $6 billion for Asia Pacific Breweries Ltd. to block one of Thailand’s richest men from building his influence in the maker of Tiger beer.
Heineken, which owns 42 percent of Asia Pacific Breweries, or APB, proposed paying as much as $6 billion to buy out other shareholders in the Singapore company, including the 40 percent stake held by Fraser and Neave Ltd., or F&N. Thai Beverage PCL, controlled by billionaire Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi’s TCC group, this week offered to buy a 22 percent stake in F&N, while a company owned by his son-in-law Chotiphat Bijananda is buying about 8.4 percent of APB.
Heineken, which has been involved with APB since 1931, is trying to stop Charoen from seizing control at a time when brewing assets in attractive markets are in short supply, said Goh Han Peng, an analyst at DMG & Partners Securities in Singapore.
“In the past, Heineken was quite comfortable in the partnership with F&N, but the entry of Thai Bev really changed the dynamics of the relationship,” Goh said by phone.
