Ascent Bridge to invest in a group of beverage, liquor distributors

Ascent Bridge is investing S$77 million to acquire stakes in a group of companies that distribute beverages and liquor in Singapore and Malaysia.

In a filing to the Singapore Exchange on Sunday (Apr 24) night, Ascent said that it was acquiring 80 per cent of the issued share capital in Singapore-incorporated Octopus Distribution Networks (ODN) and Singapore-incorporated Cape Exim from Octopus Global Hldgs for S$57.75 million. Meanwhile, it is acquiring 39.2 per cent of the issued share capital of Malaysia-incorporated Luen Heng F&B from Octopus Investment for S$19.25 million.

The S$77 million will be paid with S$45 million in cash, while the balance S$32 million will be via the issuance of about 24.62 million new shares at S$1.30 per share. The proposed acquisitions will be funded by the company's internal resources and bank borrowings.

The target companies import, export, distribute and warehouse alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages and liquor in Singapore and Malaysia. The Singapore-based companies have 67 suppliers, of which 36 suppliers provide it with 144 brands exclusively for sale in Singapore. The Malaysia-based companies have 85 suppliers, of which 64 suppliers provide it with 228 brands exclusively for sale in Malaysia.

Ascent said: "The board believes these are value accretive and synergistic to the business of the company's wholly-owned subsidiary, MTBL Group." The subsidiary is in the business of promoting, selling and distributing Moutai Bulao 125ml liquor products outside China.

The counter closed at S$1.14 on Friday, down one cent or 0.87 per cent.