Companies
ThaiBev to acquire 54% stake of Vietnam’s largest brewer
Vietnam Beverage, ThaiBev’s domestic unit, took a 54% stake in Sabeco, as Vietnam’s largest brewer is known

A Thai Beverage affiliate won the right to buy around 54% stake in Vietnam’s Saigon Beer Alcohol Beverage Corp. in what is to be the Vietnam government’s biggest divestment of a state-owned enterprise.
Vietnam Beverage, ThaiBev’s domestic unit, took a 54% stake in Sabeco, as Vietnam’s largest brewer is known. An undisclosed individual domestic investor had registered to bid for 20,000 shares. In all, the ministry garnered bids for about 343.682 million shares in Sabeco.
The Vietnamese government expects to collect about $4.8 billion from the deal.
Vietnam Beverage was the only institutional bidder for the company better known as Sabeco. An individual investor who introduced himself as a fortune teller and spiritual dancer also participated in the auction, acquiring a negligible stake.
Vietnam Beverage is wholly owned by F&B Alliance Vietnam, a local unit of the Fraser and Neave (F&N), a food and beverage conglomerate based in Singapore. The Thai Beverage group last month bought a 49% stake in F&B Alliance Vietnam, apparently with the sole intent of bidding for Sabeco.
Anheuser-Busch InBev of Belgium, Japan’s Kirin Holdings and other big multinationals showed interest in Sabeco, Vietnam’s largest brewer, but withdrew, apparently due to the high purchase price.
ThaiBev, the maker of Chang beer, has long sought a major overseas acquisition to reinforce its core spirits and brewing businesses.
An aging population and increasing excise taxes have put a ceiling on Thailand’s alcoholic beverage market. These factors are pushing ThaiBev to become a pan-Southeast Asia provider of beverages.
Thailand has a population of around 68 million, but ThaiBev desperately wants to help itself to more of the rising income of Southeast Asia’s 600 million people.
The company has generated most of its overseas sales in Europe. In Scotland, it owns the Old…
Companies
Thai firms tops the world’s sustainability ranking by S&P Global

The Stock Exchange of Thailand revealed that 11 Thai firms have been awarded in Gold Class, the world’s highest ranking by number in sustainability aspect in “The Sustainability Yearbook 2021” conducted by S&P Global.
(more…)Banking
Acquisition of Oman Block to Support Standalone Profiles Thailand’s PTTEP and PTT
The acquisition should help PTTEP maintain a robust operating profile over the next three years with a reserve life of around seven years; its medium-term target.

Thailand-based PTT Exploration and Production Public Company Limited’s (PTTEP; BBB+/Stable) USD2.5 billion acquisition of a 20% stake in Oman Block 61 is credit accretive for its ‘bbb’ Standalone Credit Profile (SCP), says Fitch Ratings.
(more…)Banking
APAC corporates likely to improve in 2021
Moody’s Investors Service says in a new report that credit conditions in APAC will improve in 2021, supported by the gradual recovery of economic activity given the early containment of the pandemic in several Asian economies.

Ongoing fiscal and monetary support in both advanced and emerging markets will also aid improving conditions, but renewed lockdowns in parts of the world have stalled the nascent global economic recovery and create uncertainty around improving credit conditions.
(more…)-
National6 days ago
Thailand to further ease COVID-19 restrictions
-
Business6 days ago
THAI airways to sell training center building to raise more funding
-
Economics3 days ago
1.7 million Thais without smartphones register for "Rao Chana" benefits
-
Health1 week ago
200,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine Distributed to 13 Thai provinces