On July 19th, AB InBev‘s Asian branch will be listed on the Hongkong stock market. The beer giant offers 1.6 billion shares at a rate of 40 to 47 Hongkong dollars (4.5 to 5.3 euros) per share.
Biggest IPO?
More details have been announced on the initial public offering of Budweiser Company APAC: the share of the brewer’s Asian division will be quoted on the Hongkong stock market on July 19th.
Depending on the final price of the share, the deal could end up at an amount between 8.3 and 9.8 billion dollars (7.3 to 8.7 billion euros). At the upper end of the price range would be the world’s biggest IPO for food and beverages, beating Kraft‘s debut in 2001, when it came in at a value of 8.6 billion dollars (7.6 billion euros).
More expensive than parent company
The initial price implies a corporate value of about 16 to 18 times the gross company profit. The Asian branch of the beer giant is valued higher than AB InBev itself (a ratio of 11).
Budweiser APAC’s portfolio contains more than fifty brands, including Budweiser, Stella Artois and Corona. The most important markets are China, Australia, Korea, India and Vietnam. Net profit for the Asian branch was 1.4 billion dollars last year (1.23 billion euros), compared to 1.1 billion dollars (972 million euros) a year earlier. The total turnover ended at 8.46 billion dollars (7.5 billion euros) in 2018.
