Is Thai Beverage worth drinking to?

TEN years ago, the Singapore Exchange (SGX) scored a coup. Thailand's largest brewer Thai Beverage, or ThaiBev, ditched plans to list in the Buddhist nation for the Singapore bourse, following protests back home against its alcohol-centric business.

The ThaiBev initial public offering (IPO) raised S$1.4 billion. It became Singapore's largest IPO since the listing of telco giant Singtel in 1993. The listing also diversified the profile of SGX, which was becoming dominated by Chinese IPOs.

A decade later, ThaiBev has fulfilled its promise to Singapore investors who bought its IPO shares at 28 cents apiece.