Japanese brewer Kirin Holdings to sell entire stake in Fraser and Neave for $1.6 bn

Japanese brewer Kirin Holdings Co Ltd yesterday said that it plans to sell its entire stake in Fraser and Neave Ltd (F&N) to TCC Assets, a vehicle controlled by Thailand's third-richest man Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi.

The move will give Sirivadhanabhakdi, who already holds 54.01 per cent in F&N after winning a two-month bidding war with Overseas Union Enterprise Ltd (OUE), controlled by Lippo Group and run by Indonesian tycoon Stephen Riady.

Kirin,  Asia's largest beverage company, which acquired a 14.8-per cent stake in F&N in 2010 for about $970 million, will sell its entire stake to TCC Assets for S$9.55  a share, the latest offer price tabled by Sirivadhanabhakdi, giving the Japanese brewer a total of S$2.03 billion ($1.6 billion).

Kirin, which expects to receive a pre-tax profit of about ¥47 billion ($515 million) from the deal, did not reveal what it would do with the money.

Kirin's decision to sell the stake comes nearly two weeks after OUE backed out of a bidding war for control of F&N, saying it was not willing to raise its offer price. (See: OUE backs out of bidding war for Fraser and Neave)

Early last month, TCC Assets sweetened its September 2012 offer to S$9.55 per share, trumping a rival S$9.08 bid from OUE.