After two months of suspension, Budweiser Asia Pacific restarted its IPO in Hong Kong.
Editor’s note: This article is from ” unicorn knew “ (ID: iponews), author: Natalie, authorized reprint.
After two months of suspension, Budweiser Asia Pacific restarted its IPO in Hong Kong. Yesterday, Anheuser-Busch InBev announced in its official website that the company in the Asia-Pacific region of InBev was reinstated to apply for listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. The sponsors were JP Morgan Chase and Morgan Stanley.
It is understood that Budweiser’s previous share price per share ranged from HK$40 to HK$47, and the over-allotment option was not calculated. The maximum capital raised was approximately 76.447 billion Hong Kong dollars (equivalent to RMB 69.384 billion). According to this plan, this may be the world’s largest IPO in 2019.
It is noteworthy that the regional business that was previously packaged in Australia has been divested in this IPO in Hong Kong because the business in the region has been sold to Japan Asahi Group for US$11.3 billion (equivalent to RMB 80.404 billion).
Two months ago, Budweiser Asia Pacific submitted an IPO application to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. At that time, Budweiser’s previous share price per share was between 40 and 47 Hong Kong dollars, not counting the over-allotment option, raising funds up to about 76.447 billion Hong Kong dollars (equivalent to 69.384 billion yuan). Based on its 2018 earnings of approximately 1.408 billion US dollars, Budweiser’s corresponding price-earnings ratio was between 38.5 and 45 times. However, this plan was suspended on July 13. According to Dealogic, this was the third largest cancellation of a prospectus on record.
At that time, Li Xiaojia, chief executive of HKEx, responded to Budweiser Asia Pacific’s cancellation of the IPO, saying that the market had been happy with the large-scale projects in Hong Kong, although the decision of the company to suspend the captain disappointed the market. However, it is considered that under the current operating mechanism of the market, issuers and investors will make the best choice. Delaying or stopping the listing is in the development strategy of the enterprise. It is a reasonable and normal choice and should respect the decision of the enterprise.
Li Xiaojia expected at the time that related companies would still maintain the Hong Kong cityInterest in the field.
For the suspension at the time, China Merchants Securities analyzed that there are four major reasons:
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The valuation price is at a high level, the static P/E ratio is between 38.5 and 45 times, and the corresponding EV/EBITDA is 20.1-23.5 times. The valuation level is at a high level with reference to international standards;
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The growth space dispute, Budweiser Asia Pacific as a high-end and profit benchmark, the current price per ton of wine and profit level has been a high level, the subsequent growth continues to lead to market controversy;
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Debt problem, the company has ample cash flow, and the debt repayment pressure is relatively small. The hidden worry mainly comes from the uncertainty of the debt relationship with the parent company;
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The risk of impairment, goodwill is indeed too high for the current profit, and the prospectus disclosed 13.2 billion US dollars, accounting for 51% of the total assets, considering the operation in the next few years.
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However, there is also market analysis that the main reason for the cancellation of Budweiser at the time was because the institutional orders were not enough, but they were reluctant to cut the amount of funds raised.
According to the listing process of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, Budweiser Asia Pacific has already passed the listing hearing, and it is still valid. Therefore, the Budweiser Asia Pacific restart listing plan will open the listing roadshow as soon as next week.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute any trading advice
The first image of this article is from: Unsplash