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Budweiser to raise US$4.8 billion in world’s second largest IPO, adds Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC as investor

  • IPO will be second-biggest globally after Uber’s US$8.1 billion listing in May
  • Revived listing comes after Budweiser Brewing Company APAC scrapped its offering in July as protests, trade war intensified

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Budweiser initially hoped to raise as much as US$9.8 billion. Photo: Reuters
Chad Bray

Budweiser Brewing Company APAC said on Tuesday that it plans to raise up to US$4.8 billion and add Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC Private Limited as a cornerstone investor as it revives its initial public offering in Hong Kong, weeks after shelving its listing in the midst of protests that have threatened the city’s reputation as an international financial centre.

The slimmed-down listing of the Asia-Pacific arm of Anheuser-Busch InBev, the world’s largest brewer, will be the largest offering in Hong Kong this year and the second-biggest globally after Uber Technologies’ US$8.1 billion listing in New York in May, according to financial data provider Refinitiv.

Budweiser initially hoped to raise as much as US$9.8 billion, but scrapped its listing in July as it was unable to attract the valuation it wanted, as market sentiment weakened amid a year-long trade war between the United States and China, and intensifying civil unrest in Hong Kong over a controversial extradition bill.

“This IPO is conditional to the right valuation, the right market conditions. In this world, you never know what happens tomorrow, or next week,” Jan Craps, the company’s chief executive, said. “We are quite confident investor interest is there. You’ve seen the cornerstone investor. We believe, within the investor community, there is a broad support for this transaction today.”

The revived listing would provide a boost to Hong Kong’s stock exchange, which lost its crown as the top market for IPOs in the first half of the year and saw several firms delay their offerings as valuations declined by as much as 40 per cent this summer.
But, investor sentiment has improved in September after trade tensions eased somewhat between the world’s two biggest economies and Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam Yuet-ngor formally withdrew the extradition bill, which sparked months of protests in the city. The bill would have made it easier to send criminal suspects to mainland China for trial.
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