Thai Beverage Plc’s shares jumped on Thursday after the company confirmed it would look to sell a 20% stake in its regional beer business through a Singapore listing, more than a year after it postponed the plan for a second time due to pandemic-led uncertainty.
ThaiBev shares rose about 3% as of 3:47pm in Singapore after gaining as much as 4.4% in their biggest advance since February. The company has a market value of S$17.6 billion (439 billion baht).
The spin-off by ThaiBev, controlled by one of Thailand's richest men Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi, was set to be the largest initial public offering in the city-state in nearly a decade before it was called off in April last year.
ThaiBev was seeking to raise about $2 billion from the brewery business’s IPO, and that it could value the company at about $10 billion, people familiar with the matter said in February. The unit contributed 29% to profits after tax at the parent company in the financial year ended Sept. 30, 2021, according to the statement.
ThaiBev is one of Southeast Asia's largest makers of drinks and counts the popular Chang lager among its key brands.
"The board sees significant growth potential in the beer business and believes that the potential can better be developed with a dedicated board of directors and management team focused solely on growing the beer business," it said on Thursday.
ThaiBev said it intends to retain a significant majority stake in the beer business after the spin-off, and will use part of the proceeds generated from the stake sale to repay interest-bearing debt.
Should the IPO finally go ahead, it would be Singapore’s biggest since the 2011 listing of Hutchison Port Holdings Trust, which raised $5.5 billion, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
ThaiBev has received confirmation from the Singapore exchange that the no-objection letter will continue to apply.