Thailand: ThaiBev completes Thailand’s biggest-ever bond sale
Thai Beverage Pcl, controlled by billionaire Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi, raised 77 billion baht ($2.36 billion) in the country’s biggest-ever corporate bond sale, Bloomberg reported on September 19 citing people familiar with the matter.
The company raised the money through a seven-part offering of securities and the borrowings will be used partly to refinance loans taken out by Thai Beverage for its purchase last year of a stake in Saigon Beer Alcohol Beverage Corp., said the people, who asked not to be identified because the details are private.
Thai Beverage, a spirits giant that makes Chang beer and SangSom rum, is among the nation’s most acquisitive companies. In addition to its push into Vietnam, the firm last year agreed to buy more than 240 existing KFC restaurants in Thailand.
Marc Tan, a research analyst at KGI Securities (Singapore) Pte., said he’s comfortable with Thai Beverage’s debt levels and doesn’t expect further big acquisitions after Sabeco. “We think they can deleverage like what happened after F&N many years ago,” he said, referring to Charoen’s purchase of Singapore’s Fraser & Neave Ltd. in 2013.
Thai Beverage’s total debt stood at 1.46 times earnings before interest and tax as of Sept. 30, 2017, falling from 1.73 times the previous year, according to Bloomberg-compiled data.
The bond deal included tranches offered to both institutional investors and high-net worth individuals, as well as portions only for institutional investors. The subscription period for high net worth investors closed on Sept. 18 and the notes are expected to be issued on Sept. 19.
Wstecz
E-malt.com, the global information source for the brewing and malting industry professionals. The bi-weekly E-malt.com Newsletters feature latest industry news, statistics in graphs and tables, world barley and malt prices, and other relevant information. Click here to get full access to E-malt.com. If you are a Castle Malting client, you can get free access to E-malt.com website and publications. Contact us for more information at marketing@castlemalting.com .
