Budweiser APAC, whose portfolio of more than 50 beer brands includes Stella Artois and Corona, guided potential investors toward the bottom of a marketed pricing range for its Hong Kong float, which would be the world’s biggest IPO this year, Reuters reported on Thursday.
Investors already subscribed for more shares than the company is offering in the float. The books, which have attracted orders from long-only institutions, sovereign wealth funds and pension funds, closed on Thursday.
The company’s executives and representatives from co-sponsors JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley have been holding the pricing meeting since then. The final price was expected to be set by Friday, sources have told Reuters.
It was not immediately clear why Budweiser APAC had delayed the pricing decision.
According to its prospectus, if the offer price cannot be finalised by Monday, July 15 (Hong Kong Time), the IPO will not proceed and will lapse.
Budweiser APAC is selling about 1.6 billion primary shares at between HK$40-$47 ($5.13-$6.02) apiece in the IPO, seeking to raise between $8.3 billion and $9.8 billion, much of which will go toward paying down debt at its highly leveraged parent.
A spokesman for Budweiser APAC declined to comment.
