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

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

and

publishing Publishing is the activities of making information, literature, music, software, and other content, physical or digital, available to the public for sale or free of charge. Traditionally, the term publishing refers to the creation and distribu ...

and

printing Printing is a process for mass reproducing text and images using a master form or template. The earliest non-paper products involving printing include cylinder seals and objects such as the Cyrus Cylinder and the Cylinders of Nabonidus. The ...

industries conglomerate. It is owned by

Thai Chinese Thai Chinese (also known as Chinese Thais, Sino-Thais) are persons of Chinese people, Chinese descent in Thailand. Thai Chinese are the largest mixed group in the country and the largest overseas Chinese community in the world with a popul ...

billionaire business magnate

Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi (; zh, c=, p=Sū Xùmíng, s=苏旭明, t=蘇旭明; : ; ; born 2 May 1944) is a Thai business magnate and investor. He is the founder of ThaiBev, Thai Beverage, and the chairman of conglomerates TCC Group (Thailand) ...

. Listed in Singapore, the group's subsidiaries include F&N Foods, F&N Creameries, Warbug Group, Yoke Food Industries and Times Publishing. As of 2023, F&N had total assets of over S$5 billion and employed over 7,200 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 (), or simply Heineken (), is a Dutch 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 February 1864, ...

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

, 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 cola soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. In 2013, Coke products were sold in over 200 countries and territories worldwide, with consumers drinking more than 1.8 billion company beverage servings ...

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 corporation, multinational food, snack, and beverage corporation headquartered in Harrison, New York, in the hamlet of Purchase, New York, Purchase. PepsiCo's business encompasses all aspects of the f ...

, Coca-Cola, and

Cadbury Schweppes Cadbury, formerly Cadbury's and Cadbury Schweppes, is a British multinational corporation, multinational confectionery company owned by Mondelez International (spun off from Kraft Foods, Inc., Kraft Foods) since 2010. It is the second-largest c ...

brands – such as –

7-Up 7 Up (stylized as 7UP worldwide) or Seven Up is an American brand of Lemon-lime drink, lemon-lime–flavored non-caffeinated soft drink. The brand and formula are owned by Keurig Dr Pepper, although the beverage is internationally distributed ...

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

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

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 ...

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 ( ) is a Singaporean State ownership, state-owned multinational investment firm. Incorporated on 25 June 1974, Temasek has a net portfolio of US$288 billion (S$389 billion) as of 2024. Headquartered at Orchard ...

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 is a Japanese beer and beverage holding company. It is known for brands such as Kirin Beer, Kirin Lemon, Mets, and Gogo no Kōcha. The predecessor of the company, the Japan Brewery Company, was founded in Yokohama in 1885 by William Henry Tal ...

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 () (), 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 magnate Charoen Sirivadha ...

acquired a 22% stake in F&N from

Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation Limited (), abbreviated as OCBC, is a Singaporean multinational banking and financial services corporation headquartered at the OCBC Centre. It operates through subsidiaries in several countries, primarily i ...

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

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

Kirin Brewery Company is a Japanese beer and beverage holding company. It is known for brands such as Kirin Beer, Kirin Lemon, Mets, and Gogo no Kōcha. The predecessor of the company, the Japan Brewery Company, was founded in Yokohama in 1885 by William Henry Tal ...

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

Frasers Property Frasers Property is a Thai-Singaporean multinational real estate and property management group which develops, owns, and manages properties globally. It is owned by Thai Chinese billionaire business magnate Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi. The group ow ...

globally.

Products

100Plus 100PLUS (often pronounced as "hundred plus") is a brand of isotonic sports drink manufactured by Fraser and Neave. It was created and launched in 1983 in both Malaysia and Singapore, with the name commemorating 100 years of Fraser and Neave's ...

* Borneo *

Carnation ''Dianthus caryophyllus'' ( ), commonly known as carnation or clove pink, is a species of ''Dianthus'' native to the Mediterranean Basin, Mediterranean region. Its exact natural range is uncertain due to extensive cultivation over the last 2,00 ...

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

Nestlé Nestlé S.A. ( ) is a Swiss multinational food and drink processing conglomerate corporation headquartered in Vevey, Switzerland. It has been the largest publicly held food company in the world, measured by revenue and other metrics, since 20 ...

) * CocoLife * Daisy (a sweetened condensed creamer brand for Philippine distribution) * EST Cola * Farmhouse * Fruit Tree * Ice Mountain * Seasons *

Magnolia ''Magnolia'' is a large genus of about 210 to 340The number of species in the genus ''Magnolia'' depends on the taxonomic view that one takes up. Recent molecular and morphological research shows that former genera ''Talauma'', ''Dugandiodendr ...

* 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 Thai brands Food and drink companies of Singapore Food and drink companies of Thailand 1883 establishments in Singapore TCC Group