F&N on the prowl for acquisitions with its $865m war chest

It needs to make up for its lost MBL stake.

While F&N’s disposal of Myanmar Brewery Limited (MBL) earlier this year has left the company flush with a net cash of $865m, the company is hard-pressed to fill the gaping void MBL left.

According to a report by DBS, F&N is prowling the market for an opportunity to make up for the higher margin beer business represented by its lost 55% MBL stake. 

“With its ample war chest, we do expect management to deploy cash to ‘crawl back’ at least of the profits ‘lost’ from the disposal of MBL. While it has indicated that no formal bid was made for a 45% stake in Vinamilk (as reported by Saigon Times), we believe FNN is keen,” DBS asserts.

DBS further ventures that F&N’s solid balance sheet along with the possible cash deployment to improve shareholder value could bolster share price.