Singapore. TCC Extends Deadline for Fraser & Neave to Jan 2

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Thai billionaire Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi Tuesday extended again the deadline for his US$7.2 billion offer for Singapore’s Fraser & Neave Ltd. (F99.SG), which has been trumped by a bid from one of Indonesia’s richest families.

Mr. Charoen’s offer of 8.88 Singapore dollars (US$7.27) for each Fraser & Neave share that he doesn’t already own, made through his unlisted investment vehicle TCC Assets, will now close on Jan. 2, TCC said in a filing to the Singapore Exchange. The offer price remains the same.

The offer, which was first made in September, was to have closed Tuesday and this extension is the fourth time that TCC has pushed back the deadline.

Mr. Charoen currently owns about 35% of Fraser & Neave, a real-estate and soft-drinks company.

Last month, Overseas Union Enterprise Ltd. (LJ3.SG), owned by Indonesia’s Riady family, made a S$9.08 per share bid for Fraser & Neave, raising the specter of a bidding war. The US$10.6 billion offer led by OUE, a Singapore-based property developer, expires Jan. 3.

A sleepy Singaporean conglomerate with 129 years of operations, Fraser & Neave came into play in July, when Mr. Charoen started building up his stake in the conglomerate. That prompted Heineken, which had an 80-year-old partnership with Fraser & Neave in brewing Tiger beer, to make a bid for the Singapore company’s beer assets, which were eventually sold to the Dutch brewing giant.