ThaiBev exploring options for spirits unit, including IPO: sources

THAI Beverage (ThaiBev) is exploring options for its spirits business, including an initial public offering (IPO) in Singapore, sources have said.

The firm has held initial discussions with banks on alternatives, including selling a stake in the maker of the country’s best-selling liquor brands Mekhong and Ruang Khao, said the sources, who asked not to be identified as the process is private. 

Deliberations are at an early stage, and no final decisions about the spirits business’ valuation have been made, the sources added. One source estimated that a deal could give it a value of at least US$5 billion, while another pegged its worth at more than US$10 billion.

There is no certainty that ThaiBev will proceed with a deal for the spirits business, the sources said.

A representative for ThaiBev did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The plans come amid ThaiBev’s struggles to bring a separate unit to the market. In August, the firm deferred its third attempt at a Singapore IPO of its brewery unit, citing “prolonged challenging market conditions” in a stock-exchange filing. The company behind Chang beer was seeking to raise US$1 billion from the IPO, which would have been Singapore’s biggest since NetLink NBN Trust’s US$1.7 billion offering in 2017, as indicated by data compiled by Bloomberg.

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ThaiBev posts 4.9% increase in revenue to 80.9 billion baht in Q1

ThaiBev reported a 13.2 per cent increase in revenue to 272.4 billion baht (S$10.6 billion), and a 22.2 per cent rise in net income to 30.1 billion baht in FY2022, as the easing of the pandemic and travel restrictions boosted consumer spending, its latest financial statement showed. The spirits business accounted for 42.7 per cent of revenue and 71.9 per cent of net profit, the statement added.

The group is controlled by Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi, who is Thailand’s richest person with a net worth of about US$14.3 billion, as indicated by the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. His supermarket and convenience store company Big C Supercenter is considering a Bangkok IPO of about US$1 billion as soon as this year, Bloomberg News has reported. BLOOMBERG