UPDATE 1-Singapore"s Frasers bids $2.4 bln for Australia"s Australand, trumps ...

* Thai billionaire Sirivadhanabhakdi backs new bid

* Offer trumps rival Australian bid

* Sets the scene for ownership showdown

(Adds quotes, details about deal, background)

By Byron Kaye

SYDNEY, June 4 (Reuters) – Singapore-listed Frasers

Centrepoint Ltd made a surprise A$2.6 billion ($2.41

billion) cash takeover bid for Australia’s Australand Property

Group, trumping an offer from Australian firm Stockland

Corp Ltd.

Backed by Thai beer billionaire Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi,

Frasers Centrepoint made its offer less than a week after

Stockland upped its bid to A$2.5 billion, Australand said in a

statement on Wednesday.

The Singapore firm is 59 percent owned by

Sirivadhanabhakdi’s investment company TCC Assets Ltd and 29

percent owned by his Thai Beverage PCL.

The move sets the scene for a showdown for control of

Australand, which has been regarded as a takeover target since

Singapore’s CapitaLand Ltd announced plans to sell

what was a 59 percent stake in early 2013.

Stockland, Australand’s biggest shareholder with 15.7

percent, has been seen as a likely buyer in its quest to become

one of Australia’s biggest property companies.

In April, Australand rejected Stockland’s original bid as

undervalued and said it would refuse Stockland access to due

diligence. A month later when Stockland increased its offer,

Australand agreed to open its books to the No. 2 Australian

property player.

Australand again changed its stance following the Frasers

bid, saying on Wednesday it expects to recommend the higher

offer and will grant the Singapore company exclusive access to

conduct due diligence for four weeks.

The about-face was “based on the board’s conclusion that the

(Frasers) proposal provides a superior value outcome for

Australand securityholders relative to Stockland’s conditional

proposal”, Australand said in a statement to the Australian

Securities Exchange.

If the Frasers offer became binding, Australand “intends to

recommend the proposal in the absence of a superior proposal”

and subject to an independent expert declaring it fair and

reasonable, Australand added.

On top of the A$2.6 billion cash bid, Frasers is offering a

distribution of A$0.1275 a share, Australand said, adding

another A$74 million to the deal.

Frasers was spun off from drinks and publishing conglomerate

Fraser and Neave Ltd and listed in Singapore in

January, a year after Sirivadhanabhakdi took control of the

parent company.

In a statement, Frasers Chief Executive Officer said the

deal would “catapult FCL to being one of Australia’s leading

real estate companies with a portfolio of scale and quality”.

It added that Australia was a “core market” for the

Singapore company.

“This proposal will be the catalyst that will help FCL to

deepen our roots and accelerate our growth in a market that we

believe will continue to offer long-term growth prospects,” it

said.

Australand shares were suspended from trading early on

Wednesday, having closed at A$4.31 per on Tuesday, compared to

the $4.48 offer price from Frasers.

Deutsche Bank and Standard Chartered Bank

are the financial advisers to FCL.

($1 = 1.0809 Australian Dollars)

(Additional reporting from Anshuman Daga in Singapore; Editing

by Stephen Coates)

UPDATE 1-Singapore"s Frasers bids $2.4 bln for Australia"s Australand, trumps ...