F&N received an offer from unnamed bidder

Talk of a possible new shareholder emerging in its Singapore listed parent F&N Ltd.  It was reported that F&N and F&N Malaysia had received an offer from an unnamed bidder for its interest in F&N. OCBC directly and indirectly through its insurance unit, Great Eastern Holdings Ltd, has a 18.2% stake in F&N.

 

The unknown bidder – speculated to be Thailand’s TCC Group that owns Thai Beverage Pcl; or a Japanese brewer, Kirin Holdings Co or Asahi Group Holdings Ltd – also offered to buy OCBC;s 7.92% stake in Asia Pacific Breweries Ltd, the brewer of Tiger beer.

 

F&N owns 56.43% stake in F&N Malaysia. The joint interests in F&N, OCBC and Great Eastern in the Malaysian outfit amount to 59.29% stake. Amanahraya Trustees Bhd is F&N Malaysia’s second largest shareholder with a 17.1% stake followed by the EPF at 7.54% stake.

 

It remains to be seen if there will be any spill over activity from the offer.

 

Relative to the Singapore entity, F&N Malaysia’s overture in the property sector in Malaysia is very small with the focus largely on the beverage and the daily business.