BeerCo Limited IPO *DEFERRED* (SGX: TBC)

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ThaiBev CEO says beer business IPO still on table​


Listing plan hinges on investors' outlook on pandemic

https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Food-Beverage/ThaiBev-CEO-says-beer-business-IPO-still-on-table
BANGKOK -- Thai Beverage still considers the listing of its beer subsidiary as the most viable way of raising funds for further expansion, Southeast Asia's major brewer said on Thursday, as it sought to make clear its plans while the pandemic roils on.

"The IPO will certainly happen," said President and CEO Thapana Sirivadhanabhakdi at Thai Beverage's annual news conference, without specifying when the process will begin. "Based on compliance regulation, we have to seek approval from Singapore Exchange once again. Once we receive the approval, we will proceed," he said.

Thai Beverage is the brewer of Chang beer and a core member of billionaire Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi's TCC Group. Thapana is the third of Charoen's five children.

The company had voiced its intention to spin off and list its beer business in 2019. Through internal restructuring, BeerCo was created in 2020 to streamline and consolidate ThaiBev's brewery business and operations.

An initial attempt was made in February. It announced a plan to sell a 20% stake in BeerCo through an initial public offering. The postponement of the listing came only after two and a half months.

The company blamed market uncertainty, "aggravated by the worsening COVID-19 pandemic in Thailand and other countries, which are not conducive for the proposed spin-off listing," according to a ThaiBev statement in April.

Despite such a volatile market, ThaiBev revenue in the nine months to end-June rose 1.2% from the same period a year ago to 80.2 billion baht ($2.37 billion). Its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization jumped by 20.4% to 10.6 billion baht.

In the news conference, the company said it had quickly adjusted its sales channels to improve performance during the pandemic. It focused on selling in retail stores, instead of bars and restaurants, which were subject to closures due to the spread of COVID-19. It also worked on online sales in countries that permitted the selling of alcoholic beverages on the internet, unlike Thailand.

Despite its efforts, the capital markets are still shaky. "BeerCo's IPO depends on timing and readiness of investors," said Thapana. "It is because I have to protect ThaiBev shareholders' value in their best interest." Apart from the negative impact of the pandemic on some sectors, investors are also now nervous about a financial crunch rippling out from the China Evergrande crisis.

ThaiBev has been listed and traded on the Singapore Exchange since 2006. The parent company originally wanted a dual listing on home soil but canceled the proposal after receiving a thumbs-down from domestic activists. The consumption of alcoholic drinks is considered a bad habit in Buddhism, Thailand's main religion. BeerCo also faces the same resistance domestically.

TCC Group became one of Thailand's largest conglomerates through acquisitions. It bought Saigon Beer Alcohol Beverage, or Sabeco, in 2018 for $4.8 billion. It is thought that proceeds from the BeerCo IPO could also be used to fund acquisitions.

Meanwhile, ThaiBev said its brewing factory in Myanmar successfully ramped up production despite political instability after the military seized power in February and amid the COVID-19 outbreak. The factory has recently added a new canning line, according to Thapana.

The Myanmar factory operates under Fraser and Neave, TCC Group's food and beverage arm it acquired in 2013, instead of BeerCo. The move was aimed at avoiding any sanctions that could be slapped on BeerCo for operating in a junta-ruled country when it is seeking to list.
 

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ThaiBev said to resume work on unit's $2.7 billion Singapore IPO​


https://www.straitstimes.com/busine...resume-work-on-units-27-billion-singapore-ipo
SINGAPORE (BLOOMBERG) - Thai Beverage is set to revive the initial public offering (IPO) of its brewery unit in Singapore after shelving the planned first-time share sale twice due to Covid-19, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

The maker of Chang beer, controlled by Thailand's richest man Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi, is working with financial advisers to gauge investors' interest in BeerCo, said the people.

ThaiBev, which is traded in Bangkok and Singapore, is still seeking to raise about US$2 billion (S$2.69 billion) from the brewery business's IPO, the people said, asking not to be identified as the process is private.

The sale could take place as soon as the second quarter, or ThaiBev's fiscal third quarter, though the company will have to update the unit's financial statements with the Singapore Exchange before the listing can resume, the people said.

A share sale could value the brewery arm at about US$10 billion, one of the people said.

Preparations are ongoing, details such as size and timing could change and there is no certainty that the listing will proceed, the people said.

A representative for ThaiBev declined to comment.

Should the IPO finally go ahead, it would be Singapore's biggest since the 2011 listing of Hutchison Port Holdings Trust, which raised US$5.5 billion, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

The deal would also give a boost to first-time share sales in Singapore, which hosted eight new listings raising US$1.06 billion in total last year, the data showed.

ThaiBev will proceed with the planned Singapore listing of shares in BeerCo "when market timing is right", and it will be part of the reorganisation of the beverage giant's business groups to "unlock market value", chief executive Thapana Sirivadhanabhakdi told reporters at a briefing in Bangkok in September.

BeerCo was set up to house all of the beverage giant's beer-related activities.

Its first listing plan in May 2020 was scuppered by Thailand's lockdown in the early days of the coronavirus pandemic.

A second effort was thwarted by the worst wave of the country's outbreak, which started in April and prompted closures of bars and nightclubs, the CEO said.

Apart from the brewery business, ThaiBev runs distilleries that produce liquor including SangSom rum, Meridian brandy and Drummer whiskey.

It also owns about 28.5 per cent of Singapore's Fraser and Neave, which sells 100Plus soft drinks and Magnolia dairy products, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
 

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ThaiBev spin-off listing to resume​


https://www.theedgesingapore.com/news/ipo/thaibev-spin-listing-resume
Thai Beverage Public Company (ThaiBev) has announced that the potential spin-off and listing of its subsidiary BeerCo on the SGX-ST, will resume.

As such, ThaiBev’s wholly-owned subsidiary, International Beverage Holdings, which holds all the issued ordinary shares in BeerCo, will conduct a public offering of up to 20% of the shares in BeerCo.

ThaiBev says the SGX-ST has confirmed that its no-objection letter issued in February 2021 will continue to apply to the resumption of the proposed spin-off listing.

Shares in ThaiBev closed at 67.5 cents on May 4.
 

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ThaiBev's beer subsidiary receives eligibility to list from SGX​


https://www.theedgesingapore.com/news/ipo/thaibevs-beer-subsidiary-receives-eligibility-list-sgx
Thai Beverage has received its eligibility to list from the Singapore Exchange for the proposed separate listing of its beer subsidiary.

The spin off was first mooted, then put on hold, and then revived on May 5.

“The receipt of the eligibility to list letter is one of the requirements which has to be met in order for ThaiBev to proceed with the proposed spin-off listing,” says ThaiBev on June 15.

“The proposed spin-off listing is also subject to, inter alia, requisite approvals from the relevant regulatory authorities, as well as the prevailing market conditions,” the company adds.

ThaiBev closed June 15 at 64 cents, down 3.03% for the day.
 

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Hmm...?

ThaiBev says may opt not to proceed with BeerCo spin-off​


https://www.straitstimes.com/busine...s-may-opt-not-to-proceed-with-beerco-spin-off
SINGAPORE (THE BUSINESS TIMES) - Thai Beverage (ThaiBev) may decide not to proceed with its proposed spin-off listing of brewery unit BeerCo on the Singapore Exchange (SGX) if the board deems it to not be in the interest of shareholders, the company said in a Friday (July 29) bourse filing.

"Accordingly, there is no certainty or assurance that the proposed spin-off listing will materialise in due course, at all, or in the form as described in the May 5 announcement," the company said.

ThaiBev was responding to a recent media report by IFR that the BeerCo listing has been "pushed back... to September-October subject to an improvement in market conditions". The proposed transaction involves a public offering of up to 20 per cent of the total number of issued ordinary shares of BeerCo.

Addressing the report, the company said "no final decision" has been made on the timing of the transaction, and it remains committed to pursuing the transaction, with "form, feasibility and appropriate timing of listing" evaluated on an ongoing basis. This assessment will take prevailing market conditions into account, among other factors.

Shares of ThaiBev rose in heavy trading after the filing. The stock was up 0.5 cent, or 0.8 per cent, at 64.5 cents at 11.09am, with 10.58 million shares traded.

ThaiBev had previously received a no-objection letter from SGX for the proposed listing in February 2021, but later deferred the transaction due to market uncertainties amid the pandemic. It announced the resumption of the proposed transaction on May 5 this year, with confirmation that SGX's initial no-objection letter will continue to apply.

Associated with the Chang and Bia Saigon brands, BeerCo has three breweries in Thailand and a network of 26 breweries in Vietnam.
 
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