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F&N

Fraser and Neave (F& N) (SGX: F99) announced after the market close on 28 June 2013 that a special resolution on a proposed capital reduction plan was unanimously passed at the Extraordinary General Meeting held on the same day.

The capital reduction exercise involves returning $3.28 per share to shareholders as part of the company’s proceeds from  selling Asia Pacific Breweries to Heineken N.V. last year. The exercise totals around S$4.7 billion.

F& N will make an announcement in due course on exactly when it will take place, once all necessary approvals are obtained. It is expected that the cash distribution will be paid to shareholders on or about 31 July 2013.

On the same day, the conglomerate also announced that it will appoint advisers to study and review alternative strategic options to unlock shareholder value. This may involve a segregation of its property-related businesses from its non-property related businesses.

Furthermore, F& N announced yesterday that it had appointed two  separate Chief Executive Officers – one to oversee the beer department and the other to manage the non-alcoholic beverage division.

All these follow a long corporate tussle that involved F& N, Thai Beverage Public Company Limited (SGX: Y92) and Overseas Union Enterprises Limited (OUE) (SGX: LJ3) from  September 2012 to January 2013.

On 13 September 2012, Thai Beverage and TCC Assets Limited issued an announcement to a mandatory conditional cash offer for F& N at S$8.88 per share. The mandatory conditional cash offer was triggered after TCC acquired about 1.37% of F& N  between  S$8.80 to S$8.88 per share, bringing the combined interest of TCC and Thai Beverage in F& N to 30.36%.

On 15 November 2012, OUE entered the fray. It made a voluntary conditional cash offer at S$9.08 per share for all the shares of F& N.

On 18^th January 2013, TCC and Thai Beverage upped the ante by offering S$9.55 per share.

On 21^st January 2013, OUE withdrew its offer. TCC and Thai Beverage now control 90.28% of F& N.

F& N is still  quoted on the Singapore Exchange after it decided to keep its listing status. The approval to remain listed was granted by SGX on 19 April 2013. F& N has  three months – until 19 July 2013 – to restore its public float to at least 10% and this would entail a disposal of around 4.7 million shares.

 

F&N begins integration with ThaiBev
Author: kiasutrader | Publish date: Tue, 2 Jul 12:18 | >> Read article in Blog website

F&N begins integration with ThaiBev. Fraser and Neave (F&N) has begun the process of integrating with Thai Beverage Public Co by creating two senior appointments. Ng Jui Sia, the chief executive of F&N's Malaysia-listed F&N Holdings Bhd, has been appointed as CEO for non-alcoholic beverages. Huang Hong Peng has been named CEO for beer. F&N, which also has businesses in property and in publishing, announced that it was looking into strategic options that could include splitting the property and non-property businesses. F&N shares closed at $8.73 on Monday, up by 1.7 per cent or 15 cents, before the new appointments were announced. (Business Times)

 

Charolen  has until 19 July  to convince new instituitonal players to take up his stake so that  he can restore the freefloat of FNN.

 

 

Anyone can advise on tis counter? i hv some lots at 9+, wat will it be after the pay out?

 

any chance of either privatization or spin off a reit for FNN?

 

Fraser & Neave (FNN) reported solid fiscal second quarter profit before interest and tax of S$163.6 million, up 71% y-o-y. But profit after tax for the quarter (S$66 million, down 48% y-o-y) was negatively affected by the one-time charge of S$72 million that arose from the general cash offer.

Likewise, its food and beverage unit registered solid earnings growth, with PBIT increasing twofold, due to improved demand for its products, better marketing execution and lower input costs.

An interim dividend of 3.5 cents per share was also declared. 

Following the disposal of its entire interest in Asia Pacific Breweries (APB) in November 2012 for S$5.6 billion, FNN announced that its plans to return approximately 84% of its proceeds (S$4.7 billion) back to shareholders. This translates to S$3.28 per share.The remaining S$0.9 billion would be retained, bringing down FNN’s net gearing to 17.3%, compared to 27.4% (pre APB sale) in the previous financial year.

Post its S$3.28 per share capital distribution, the net asset value (NAV) of FNN would correspondingly be reduced from S$8.80 per share to S$5.52 per share. 

The proposed capital distribution is likely to be well received by the market, providing strong signals that FNN and its parent company Thai Beverage Pcl could introduce further restructuring exercises.

Other key catalysts for the stock would include potential synergistic business opportunities with Thai Beverage Pcl over the medium to long term.Overall, its underlying businesses performed well,with its property unit posting strong earnings, up 21% y-o-y, buoyed by strong rental income and progressive revenue recognition of pre-sold residential projects in Singapore.

 

After pay out, the NAV will also drop at the same level, same to the share price. All these are expected.

 

no big reaction or strong interest in F& N despite the $3.28 payout today ????

 

expecting to see same afternoon buying spree in the late afternoon like what happened previously ?

 

same scenario again today and run up at closing bell.

 

noted buying has been very strong after 3pm for the past few afternoon sessions.

 

UOB Kay Hian note that the recent sharp pull-back in share price reflects the expiry of the General Offer (GO) and the removal of the stock from various indices. A conglomerate discount of 10-20% suggests a potential valuation of S$8.60-9.70. As at Dec 12, F& N had net cash of $3,384m, or $2.35/share. This included the proceeds from the sale of its stake in APB and Asia Pacific Investment for $5.6b. To date, there has been no announcement of plans for the massive cash hoard. Although there was an initial offer of a 1-for-3 capital reduction, this was subsequently thwarted by the GO for F& N by TCC Assets. In the absence of any significant M& A, think F& N could consider raising its dividends to upstream funds to its major shareholders (TCC Assets and ThaiBev). House have a RNAV estimate of $10.80/share. Based on a 10-20% conglomerate discount, a potential valuation range for F& N is $8.60-9.70/share. House believe that with a new major shareholder, appointments of advisors and a significant cash war chest (> S$3b), seepotential M& A/restructuring catalysts to drive the share price closer to a discount of 10-20%.

 

 

  What lesson to learn from CK Tang & others? Please enlighten - hold or sell F& N if still vested.

 

 

 

Analyst's stories always " compelling" ... Fair value, Target price and Intrinsic value etc. are all sounded like cinderella in the making.   Public float fell to less than 10%, would minority shareholders better off learn from CK Tang and others...    

   

 

go up by 0.26!!! what is the fundamental??

 

Analyst's stories always " compelling" ... Fair value, Target price and Intrinsic value etc. are all sounded like cinderella in the making.   Public float fell to less than 10%, would minority shareholders better off learn from CK Tang and others...  

 

 

 

   

 

...Married Deal:   Vol: 286    Value: $2,225,449   ie $7.781/share   Prev Close: $7.810...

 

STOCK CALL: Fraser & Neave's (F99.SG) share-price decline is likely on a combination of factors, including its removal from key indexes, such as the STI and the MSCI DM, and concerns over plans to restore its free float to above 10%, says Deutsche Bank.

It notes ThaiBev (Y92.SG) and TCC Assets, with a combined 90.3% F& N stake, have until July 19 to restore the free float. Longer term, it expects synergies between F& N's consumer and property business and ThaiBev's and TCC's existing operations as well as a possible capital return after the APB divestment yielded S$5.6 billion, or around S$3.89/share, in proceeds, putting F& N in a net cash position. But it views measures to unlock value, return capital and drive synergies as unlikely near-term as management only recently initiated a strategic review.

Deutsche Bank notes F& N's correction has taken it to a more than 20% discount to the house's S$11.43 fair value estimate vs its historical average 17% discount.

It keeps its Hold call with S$9.72 target while awaiting greater clarity. The stock ends down 4.8% at S$7.81, for a 17.3% week-to-date decline.

 

Any idea how we can check who had scooped up bulk of the 18.6 mil shares at $7.81 pre-closing ? 

 

just wondering how it will response tomorro??, n next day is Friday liao.