Thai Bev wins near $5 billion Sabeco auction in Vietnam’s biggest priv

Ho CHI MINH CITY/SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Thai Beverage (TBEV.SI), through a local unit, won the rights to buy a majority stake worth $4.84 billion in Vietnam’s top brewer Sabeco SAB.HM in an auction that marked the country’s biggest ever privatization process.

Vietnam’s young population and booming economy has made the state-owned maker of Bia Saigon an attractive asset for global players hoping to expand in Southeast Asia, but political resistance, a high minimum bid price and a cap on foreign ownership have deterred buyers.

Thai Beverage (Thai Bev) emerged as the only buyer for the 54 percent stake in Sabeco that was up for grabs and its unit, Vietnam Beverage Co Ltd, was named a winner of the sale as global brewing groups stayed out of the auction on Monday.

Late on Sunday, Singapore-listed Thai Beverage had said in a statement that its indirect associated company had submitted the registration form to participate in the bidding.

Vietnam Beverage is owned by Vietnam F&B Alliance Investment Company, which is 49-percent owned by BeerCo Limited – an indirect but wholly-owned unit of Thai Beverage, official documents about the companies showed.

Reuters previously reported that the auction was drawing the interest of brewing groups such as Anheuser-Busch InBev (ABI.BR), Kirin Holdings (2503.T), Asahi Group Holdings (2502.T) and San Miguel (SMC.PS), but these brewers did not participate.

“There’s a disconnect between what the government wants to achieve and how international brewers view this auction,” said one person familiar with the matter.

“In a normal auction, bidders are fully aware of what stake they’ll end up owning and bid for it accordingly,” said the person, who was not authorized to speak to the media.

Unlike similar sales in developed markets, where investors are whittled down over several rounds and offers can be adjusted, Sabeco bidders need to submit a single offer for a specific number of shares in a sealed envelope in one round.

The government’s minimum price for the 54 percent stake on offer valued Sabeco at about 36 times core earnings, more than double the trading multiples of around 15 for some global peers, according to Reuters data.