The Star Online: Business
The Star Online: Business |
- Counter offer for F&N
- Richard Li returns to insurance with ING deal
- BP board considers Rosneft bid for TNK-BP
| Posted: 19 Oct 2012 09:21 PM PDT SINGAPORE: A Singapore hotel and property firm backed by Indonesia's Lippo Group may team up with Japan's Kirin Holdings to thwart a US$7.2bil takeover offer for Fraser and Neave Ltd from companies linked to Thailand's third richest man, sources said. In an unexpected move, Overseas Union Enterprise Ltd (OUE) said yesterday it was seeking partners in a potential takeover bid for F&N, without identifying the parties. Kirin Holdings Co Ltd is one of the companies involved in the preliminary discussions, said the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the talks were private. Kirin Holdings, F&N's second biggest shareholder, said this week it was considering all possible options for its stake in the Singapore beverage and property conglomerate. The Japanese brewer declined to comment on the OUE talks. OUE's approach may force the Thais to raise their S$8.88pershare offer, which F&N had described as "not compelling but fair." Shares in F&N jumped 3% to S$9.20 after trading of the stock resumed on Friday afternoon. The shares have been trading above the Thai offer and are up 47% so far this year. "This will definitely complicate the Thai bid because the S$8.88 offer that they put on the table has already met some scepticism from some shareholders as well as some of the F&N directors," said Goh Han Peng, an analyst at DMG & Partners Securities. The fight for F&N's businesses has shifted to the group's property portfolio, worth more than S$8bil (US$6.56bil), after F&N agreed last month to sell its nearly 40% stake in Tiger beer maker Asia Pacific Breweries Ltd to Heineken NV. Earlier in October, F&N rebuffed a S$1.4bil offer for its hospitality and serviced apartments unit. Sources said OUE was behind the bid. "From OUE's perspective, the attraction from F&N side is the property side. They might tie up with a third party like a food and beverage player as such a partnership would be complementary for both," Goh said, adding that potential partners could be Kirin or Coca-Cola Co. Kirin had said previously it was interested in F&N's food and nonalcoholic drinks business. The companies linked to Thai billionaire Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi are collectively F&N's largest shareholder with a nearly 34% stake. Kirin owns almost 15%. "OUE wishes to state that it is in discussions with certain parties and is considering all options with respect to F&N, including an offer for F&N shares," the Singaporelisted company said in a statement. Forbes magazine, on its Indonesia rich list published last November, ranked Lippo Group patriarch Mochtar Riady at No. 38 with an estimated net worth of US$650mil. The Lippo group comprises private and public companies in China, Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore and South Korea with US$11bil in assets. "Given the significant value in F&N, especially its property assets and its strong F&B franchise in Malaysia and Singapore, it would make sense for the Lippo group to make a counter offer," Jit Soon Lim, an analyst at Nomura, said in a report. - Reuters |
| Richard Li returns to insurance with ING deal Posted: 19 Oct 2012 09:21 PM PDT HONG KONG: Hong Kong businessman Richard Li, the younger son of Asia's richest man, is buying ING's Hong Kong, Macau and Thailand insurance units for US$2.14bil in cash, bringing the Dutch financial services company a step closer to paying off its state bailout. Li's bid, through unlisted Pacific Century Group, marks his return to an industry he exited in 2007 and would help expand his business empire, which is now made up of telecoms, media and funds management. He is paying 24.3 times estimated 2012 earnings for the three units. The transaction is subject to regulatory approvals and is expected to close in the first quarter of 2013, according to a statement from ING. ING is divesting assets across the world to repay the 10 bil euro (US$13.1bil) state bailout it received during the 2008 financial crisis. Last week, the company announced the sale of its Malaysian insurance business to AIA Group Ltd for US$1.73bil in cash, its first deal in a ninemonth drive to sell off its Asian insurance and investment management assets. AIA paid 14.3 times 2011 earnings for the Malaysian business. With the latest deal, ING would be raising a total of US$3.87bil so far from its Asia exit plan, with the divestment of its much bigger Japan and South Korean operations still pending. "It seems to be going well," Cor Kluis, an analyst at Rabobank, said on Thursday when Reuters reported the news of Li's purchase based on sources. Kluis said he had expected the Hong Kong and Thai businesses to be sold for 1.4 billion euros (US$1.84bil) and for the Asian insurance and investment assets to raise 6.1 billion euros in total. Negotiations to sell ING's Japan and South Korean operations have been dragging on and it was not immediately clear when the sale of those two units would be announced. Li has also bid for parts of the Japan business, while the South Korea unit is expected to be sold to KB Financial Group. Li, 45, previously ran an insurance business in Hong Kong, which he sold to Dutch and Belgian financial services firm Fortis in 2007. Li was a surprise bidder for ING's insurance operations which attracted interest from global insurers. - Reuters |
| BP board considers Rosneft bid for TNK-BP Posted: 19 Oct 2012 09:20 PM PDT LONDON: Rosneft is poised to secure a tighter grip on Russia's oil industry by buying BP's 50% stake in TNK-BP, the country's third largest producing company. The British oil company's board met yesterday to consider a cash and stock offer worth over US$25bil. It was not tied to asset deals or exploration tieups with Rosneft although those might come in the future, sources said. Rosneft has already made an offer of around US$28bilto BP's equal partners in TNK-BP, the AAR consortium owned by four Soviet-born tycoons, according to the sources in London, Moscow and elsewhere. Other sources familiar with BP, Rosneft, their advisers and financiers said the terms of two offers might differ, but that they valued the whole of TNK-BP at over US$50bil. Some British newspapers reported that BP's chief executive Bob Dudley would be recommending the offer to the board. "The offer is in. It's a split of the two," (cash and shares). It's a clean offer and there's no other plan on the table," said one source. "If he thinks it's the best offer Dudley will recommend it but the board may say we need to reconvene and consider this aspect or that. It's not an automatic tick in the box." Over the past few days sources painted a picture of a three-way deal that could emerge over the coming weeks, with some details to be hammered out during a visit to London this week by Rosneft chief executive Igor Sechin. "BP is reviewing options (with regard to the offer)," said one source. The sources said BP and the four tycoons could emerge with minority stakes in an enlarged Rosneft plus billions of dollars in cash in exchange for the highly profitable company. The combined group would dominate Russia's increasingly state-controlled oil industry. President Vladimir Putin has been determinedly regaining state control of assets that passed cheaply to a small group of businessmen when privatised in a hurry in the 1990s. Rosneft's absorption of another oil firm, Yukos, and the imprisonment of its former owner Mikhail Khodorkovsky in the mid-2000s was the biggest step in this process until now. Reuters |
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