Heineken to boost Asian growth with Tiger beer deal
Purchase this article for republication
Buy SPH photos
LONDON (REUTERS) - Heineken won control on Friday of the Asian group which brews Tiger beer when Singapore's Fraser and Neave (F&N) agreed to sell its stake in the firm for S$5.1 billion, a deal which will help boost the Dutch group's Asian growth.
The purchase gives Heineken 82 per cent of the prized Asia Pacific Breweries (APB) and it will now launch an offer for the rest of the company, while F&N, a drinks and property group, could be broken up eventually.
Amsterdam-based Heineken already owned 42 per cent of APB, which runs 24 Asian breweries, and buying F&N's 40 per cent stake will help it to defend its turf which is under threat from Thailand's second-richest man.
F&N's board, whose chairman Lee Hsien Yang is the younger son of Singapore's elder statesman Lee Kuan Yew, will recommend the S$50 an APB share deal to its shareholders, Heineken said in a statement.
