Fraser and Neave, Limited (F&N) is a Singaporean

food and beverage The foodservice (US English) or catering (British English) industry includes the businesses, institutions, and companies which prepare meals outside the home. It includes restaurants, school and hospital cafeterias, catering operations, and many ...

publishing Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed works, such as books, newsp ...

and former brewing and property industries conglomerate. It is owned by

Thai Chinese Thai Chinese (also known as Chinese Thais, Sino-Thais), Thais of Chinese origin ( th, ชาวไทยเชื้อสายจีน; ''exonym and also domestically''), endonym Thai people ( th, ชาวไทย), are Chinese descenda ...

billionaire business magnate

Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi ( th, เจริญ สิริวัฒนภักดี; ; ; born 2 May 1944) is a Thai business magnate and investor. He is the founder of Thai Beverage, and the chairman of conglomerates TCC Group and Fraser ...

. Listed in Singapore, the group's subsidiaries and associated companies include

Frasers Property Frasers Property is a Singaporean multinational real estate and property management company that develops, owns, and manages properties across the globe. It owns and manages properties in the commercial, residential, hospitality, retail, and indu ...

Asia Pacific Breweries Heineken Asia Pacific, formerly Asia Pacific Breweries (APB) is a Singaporean brewery company. Founded in 1931 as a joint venture between Heineken International and Fraser and Neave, it was renamed Asia Pacific Breweries (APB) in 1989 and given i ...

and Times Publishing. As of 2011, F&N had total assets of over S$14 billion and employed over 7,890 people in 11 countries. In January 2014, through a distribution in specie and re-listing of Frasers Centrepoint Limited by way of introduction on the Singapore stock exchange, the group de-merged its properties business.

History

Founding and early history

The company (Singapore and Straits Aerated Water Company) was formed in 1883 by John Fraser and David Chalmers Neave, who diversified from their printing business (Singapore and Straits Printing Office) to pioneer the aerated water business in Southeast Asia in 1883. In 1898, a new public company was formed and the two businesses were sold to the new company, named Fraser & Neave (F&N), for $290,000 in cash and shares.

Diversification, restructuring, and expansion

In 1931, Fraser & Neave formed a joint venture with Holland's

Heineken Heineken Lager Beer ( nl, Heineken Pilsener), or simply Heineken () is a pale lager beer with 5% alcohol by volume produced by the Dutch brewing company Heineken N.V. Heineken beer is sold in a green bottle with a red star. History On 15 Febr ...

to venture into the brewing business. The brewery, Malayan Breweries Limited produced

Tiger Beer Tiger Beer is a Singaporean brand of beer first launched in 1932. It is currently produced by Heineken Asia Pacific, formerly known as Asia Pacific Breweries. The company is a joint-venture between Heineken N.V. and Singaporean multinational ...

, and later acquired

Archipelago Brewery The Archipelago Brewery is a Singaporean brewery owned by Heineken Asia Pacific (formerly Asia Pacific Breweries). It labels itself as "Singapore's Craft Brewery". History In August 1931, with a capital of 5,250,000 guilders N.V. Archipel Bro ...

, which produced Anchor Beer. In 1936, F&N acquired the Singapore, Malaya and Brunei franchise rights for

Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. Originally marketed as a temperance drink and intended as a patent medicine, it was invented in the late 19th century by John Stith Pemberton in Atlanta ...

drinks. Alongside its own range of F&N branded drinks, the company went on to acquire the rights to other

PepsiCo PepsiCo, Inc. is an American multinational food, snack, and beverage corporation headquartered in Harrison, New York, in the hamlet of Purchase. PepsiCo's business encompasses all aspects of the food and beverage market. It oversees the manuf ...

, Coca-Cola, and

Cadbury Schweppes Cadbury, formerly Cadbury's and Cadbury Schweppes, is a British multinational confectionery company fully owned by Mondelez International (originally Kraft Foods) since 2010. It is the second largest confectionery brand in the world after Mars ...

brands – such as –

7-Up 7 Up (stylized as 7up outside North America) is an American brand of lemon-lime-flavored non-caffeinated soft drink. The brand and formula are owned by Keurig Dr Pepper although the beverage is internationally distributed by PepsiCo. 7 Up comp ...

Fanta Fanta is an American-owned German brand of fruit-flavored carbonated soft drinks created by Coca-Cola Deutschland under the leadership of German businessman Max Keith. There are more than 200 flavors worldwide. Fanta originated in Germany as ...

, and Sunkist. In 1990, Malayan Breweries changed its name to

Modern history

In 1999, F&N purchased a 20% stake in Times Publishing before taking majority control of the company in 2000, with the entire acquisition costing around S$570 million. This put F&N into the printing, publishing, retail bookstore, sales and distribution, education, internet and conference organisation businesses. In 2001, F&N took both Times and Centrepoint Properties private. In 2006, the Singapore government investment company

Temasek Holdings Temasek Holdings (Private) Limited, or simply Temasek, is a Singaporean state holding company owned by the Government of Singapore. Incorporated on 25 June 1974, Temasek owns and manages a total of US$496.59 billion (S$671 billion) in assets u ...

took a 14.9%, S$900 million stake in F&N, becoming F&N's second-largest investor. In 2008, F&N reorganised its management structure and appointed chief executives for three of its core businesses: food & beverage; property; and printing and publishing. On 27 June 2007, F&N Singapore launched a new logo for its food and beverage business in order to reach the Asia-Pacific market. In 2010, Temasek's entire stake was sold to Japan's Kirin Holdings for S$1.33 billion. On 1 September 2011, the three-quarter-century partnership between F&N and Coca-Cola in Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei ended. F&N no longer had the franchise rights to manufacture and market Coca-Cola beverages. In July 2012,

ThaiBev Thai Beverage, better known as ThaiBev ( th, ไทยเบฟ) (), is Thailand's largest and one of Southeast Asia's largest beverage companies, with distilleries in Thailand, UK, and China. It is owned by Thai Chinese billionaire business ma ...

acquired a 22% stake in F&N from

Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation, Limited (), often known as OCBC Bank (), is a Singaporean multinational banking and financial services corporation headquartered in OCBC Centre, Singapore. OCBC Bank was born out of the Great Depression t ...

, raising its stake to 24.1%. In August 2012, F&N accepted an offer from Heineken to acquire its stake in

for US$4.1 billion. In September 2012, ThaiBev and its partner TCC Assets, both controlled by

billionaire

, made a move to thwart efforts by Heineken to acquire control of Asia Pacific Breweries, with a S$8.8 billion (US$7.1 billion) cash offer for F&N. Other companies, such as, Coca-Cola and Kirin Holdings, also showed interest for the soft-drink and food businesses of F&N, in order to expand their operations in Asia. On 28 September 2012, F&N shareholders approved the sale of Asia Pacific Breweries to Heineken during the extraordinary general meeting held. In 2013, Kirin Holdings sold its 15% stake in F&N to TCC (ThaiBev).

Frasers Centrepoint Limited and Frasers Property (2013–present)

Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi expanded his

drinks and property empire to include about two-thirds of this Singaporean conglomerate. This was possible after

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

Kirin Brewery Company is a Japanese integrated beverages company. It is a subsidiary of Kirin Holdings Company, Limited. Its major operating units include Kirin Brewery Company, Limited, Mercian Corporation and Kirin Beverages Company, Limited. Kirin is a member o ...

sold its 15% stake for US$1.6 billion to Sirivadhanabhakdi. In January 2014, through a distribution in specie and re-listing of Frasers Centrepoint Limited by way of introduction on the Singapore stock exchange, the group de-merged its properties business. In February 2018, Frasers Centrepoint Limited was renamed

globally.

Products

* 100Plus * Borneo *

Carnation ''Dianthus caryophyllus'' (), commonly known as the carnation or clove pink, is a species of ''Dianthus''. It is likely native to the Mediterranean region but its exact range is unknown due to extensive cultivation for the last 2,000 years.Med ...

(in Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei and Thailand, under license from

Nestlé Nestlé S.A. (; ; ) is a Switzerland, Swiss multinational food and drink processing conglomerate corporation headquartered in Vevey, Vaud, Switzerland. It is the largest publicly held food company in the world, measured by revenue and other me ...

) * CocoLife * Daisy (a sweetened condensed creamer brand for Philippine distribution) * EST Cola * Farmhouse * Fruit Tree * Ice Mountain * Seasons * Magnolia * NutriSoy * NutriWell * Oishi * Ranger * Sarsi

References

Notes

Bibliography

*{{Cite book , title=Singapore: The Encyclopedia , title-link=Singapore: The Encyclopedia , publisher=Singapore:

Editions Didier Millet Editions Didier Millet is a publisher of illustrated general and reference books, emphasising strongly on Southeast Asia. The company also produces books and catalogues for museums, galleries, corporations and other institutions. The company was ...

, year=2006 , isbn=978-981-4155-63-2 , editor-last=Tommy Koh , editor-link=Tommy Koh , page=205

External links

Official site
Conglomerate companies of Singapore Companies listed on the Singapore Exchange Singaporean brands Food and drink companies of Singapore 1883 establishments in Singapore