ThaiBev to revive unit's US$2b Singapore IPO, sources say

[BANGKOK] Thai Beverage is set to revive the initial public offering 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 is still seeking to raise about US$2 billion from the brewery business's IPO, the people said, asking not to be identified as the process is private.

Shares in ThaiBev trimmed losses in Singapore after the Bloomberg News report, closing down 0.7 per cent after sinking as much as 2.9 per cent earlier in the day.

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 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.

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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 the city-state, which hosted eight new listings raising US$1.06 billion in total last year, the data show.

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 officer 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 also runs distilleries that produce liquor including SongSam rum, Meridian brandy and Drummer whiskey. It owns about 28.5 per cent of Singapore's Fraser & Neave, which sells 100Plus soft drinks and Magnolia dairy products, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation from ThaiBev's beer business increased to US$139 million in the first fiscal quarter, a 4.5 per cent increase over the same period the year before, according to a statement last week. BLOOMBERG