Chaiwat Subprasom/ReutersA group controlled by Dhanin Chearavanont last year completed the purchase of a 15.6 percent stake in the Ping An Insurance Group of China from HSBC Holdings.
HONG KONG – CP All, the Thai operator of 7-Eleven convenience stores owned by the billionaire Dhanin Chearavanont, said on Tuesday that it would pay more than $6 billion to acquire the discount retailer Siam Makro in the biggest takeover announced in Asia this year.
It is the second blockbuster acquisition in recent months for a company controlled by Mr. Dhanin, whose Charoen Pokphand Group in February completed the $9.4 billion purchase of a 15.6 percent stake in the Ping An Insurance Group of China from HSBC Holdings. That deal was announced in December.
The deal comes after a major buyout by another Thai billionaire, Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi, a beverage magnate whose companies completed an $11.2 billion buyout in January of the Singaporean conglomerate Fraser Neave, the end of a long takeover battle that began in July 2012.
CP All, said it would offer 188.34 billion baht ($6.6 billion) for all the outstanding shares of Siam Makro, which operates 57 membership-club retail outlets around Thailand, as well as a chain of five small frozen food shops, Siam Frozen.
The deal is also the biggest globally within the retail sector. It brings the total value of mergers and acquisitions in the global retail sector this year to $25.6 billion, up 87 percent from the period a year earlier and the strongest year-to-date level since 2007, according to data from Thomson Reuters.
In a filing on Tuesday with the Stock Exchange of Thailand, CP All said it had reached an agreement to pay 787 baht a share for the 64.4 percent of Siam Makro owned by SHV Holdings, a private, family owned Dutch firm with businesses ranging from oil and natural gas production to private equity investing.
The offer is 15.4 percent above Siam Makro’s closing share price of 682 baht on Friday, when the stock was suspended from trading in Bangkok.
After the deal with SHV Holdings, CP All plans to start a general offer to public shareholders at the same price for the remaining 35.6 percent stake.
This post has been revised to reflect the following correction:
Correction: April 23, 2013
An earlier version of this article gave the incorrect figure in baht for the value of CP All’s offer. It is 188.34 billion baht, not 343.24 billion baht. An earlier version also incorrectly rendered the name of the Thai billionaire on second reference. As per Thai custom, it is Mr. Dhanin, not Mr. Chearavanont.
Article source: http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2013/04/23/bangkok-tycoon-offers-6-6-billion-for-thai-retailer/?partner=rss&emc=rss
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