LONDON (ShareCast) - Dutch beer giant Heineken has offered to buy its joint venture partner Fraser and Neave’s (F and N) shares in Asia Pacific Breweries (APB) at a price of 50 Singapore dollars per share, for a total consideration of 5.1bn Singapore dollars (roughly 2.6bn pounds).

APB's brand portfolio includes Tiger Beer, Anchor Beer, and Heineken.

The offer surpasses a bid made earlier this week by Thai billionaire Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi whose company Thai Beverage offered S$3.8bn. This previous bid put pressure on Heineken to protect its investment in APB as it operates in 14 Asian countries including Indonesia.

Heineken explained that its offer is “in line with the company’s strategy to expand its presence in emerging markets and follows transformational deals in recent years that have included the acquisition of the brewing operations of FEMSA in Mexico and Brazil, the partnership with United Breweries in India and acquisitions and capacity investments in Africa.”

Heineken's shares rose 1.22% to €43.02 in early trading on Friday.

JM

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