SINGAPORE: In a counter bid for Singapore's Asia Pacific Breweries (AFB) on Friday, Dutch beer giant Heineken announced a $4.1 billion offer for the beer maker. The bid comes only days after a Thailand billionaire and his family made an initial offer for the Southeast Asian company. The battle has sparked a small battle over the future of beer in the region, with Heineken seen as attempting to ensure it maintains its status as a leader in the region. The Dutch brewer sought to acquire Singapore-listed conglomerate Fraser and Neave's direct and indirect stakes in APB, one of the largest Asia-Pacific breweries, putting a S$50 per share bid on the table. The previous bid by Thai business tycoon Charoen Sirirvadhanabhakdi at S$45 per share had come as a surprise in the opening days of the selling. Asia is a key revenue driver for Heineken, having posted an 8.4 increase in first-quarter beer volumes, nearly double the growth in the Americas and well above a drop of almost two percent in its home market of Western Europe. “People were expecting something from either Heineken or Kirin, but how fast Heineken moved is the surprising thing,” said Andrew Chow, head of research at UOB-Kay Hian in Singapore, in comments published by Reuters news agency. Fraser and Neave (F&N) owns 40 percent of APB, maker of the internationally popular Tiger beer. Heineken already owns 42 percent of the beer maker, a stake that it has repeatedly said it will maintain given Asia's fast-growing beer market. Rival brewer Japan's Kirin Holdings (2503.T) also owns a 14.7 percent stake in F&N.
