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Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Charoen group fails in bid to boost F&N stake -sources, (NYSE: C)

Thai beer baron Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi tried and failed to acquire an additional stake of 10 percent in Fraser and Neave Ltd (F&N), piling pressure on him to raise his earlier $7.2 billion takeover bid for the Singapore conglomerate.Charoen, whose Thai Beverage PCL and TCC Assets Ltd own a combined 34 percent of F&N, is trying to increase his stake in F&N to more than 50 percent by next month, when his takeover bid for the 129-year-old beverage and property group expires.Talks between companies controlled by Charoen and institutional investors in F&N began late on Friday with Citigroup Inc trying to broker a deal, and the negotiations have since broken down, sources with direct knowledge of the transaction told Reuters. The sources declined to be identified as the discussions were confidential."It was a disaster," said one of the sources. "It is back to the drawing board."

Citigroup Inc. is a global diversified financial services holding company whose businesses provide consumers, corporations, governments and institutions with a broad range of financial products and services. Shares of C traded higher by 0.83% or $0.31/share to $37.60. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $24.40 and as high as $38.72. On average, 39247900 shares of C exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 24600500.



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