Heineken will acquire control of Asia Pacific Breweries for about $4.5 billion, the
New York Times’
Deal Book blog reported
. The company will pay about $42.28 a share for Fraser & Neave’s 39.7% stake in Asia Pacific, and about $130 million for other F&N assets, the article said.
The offer is worth nearly 10% more than Heineken’s initial offer, according to the
New York Times
report.
Through the agreement, Heineken will own 81.6% of Asia Pacific. It then plans to spend an estimated $2 billion to buy out the remaining shareholders, the
New York Times
article said.
According to the
New York Times
report, Heineken plans to fund the deal through cash on hand, an existing revolving credit facility and new financing from its banks.
The
Financial Times
called
the bidding for Asia Pacific “one of the most hard-fought — and complex — bid battles in Asia in recent times.” Two weeks earlier, a partnership called Kindest Place, affiliated with the controlling shareholder in Thai Beverage, countered Heineken’s original offer with a higher bid for a 7.3 stake held by F&N directly in Asia Pacific.
Shareholder approval of the deal is still pending, but F&N must pay Heineken a break-up fee of about $45 million if shareholders reject Heineken’s offer, the
New York Times
article said.
The
FT
report noted that Thai Beverage is the largest shareholder in F&N, with 26.4%. Kirin, the second-largest shareholder, has 15%; insurer Prudential is the third-largest shareholder. “ThaiBev would need to muster slightly more than Kirin and Prudential’s votes to give it the simple majority needed to block a Heineken offer,” the FT article said. (Source: Deal Book,
New York Times,
Aug. 17, 2012;
Financial Times,
Aug. 19, 2012.)
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