BANGKOK With deep pockets from his extensive beverage and property businesses, Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi, the self-made billionaire behind popular Thai beer Chang, is widely regarded as Thailand's king of mergers and acquisitions.
He confirmed that reputation when Thai Beverage, the flagship business in his TCC Group, emerged as the sole bidder for Sabeco, Vietnam's biggest brewery and the producer of Saigon Beer, in a state-run auction last December. The hefty price of $4.8 billion set by the Vietnamese government discouraged other global names from even placing bids.
