Jan. 22, 2013 ? A new multiple gene expression profile test was able to predict the presence of harmful BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutations in otherwise healthy women carrying the mutations, according to data published in Cancer Prevention Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.
"This novel technology aims to provide a layer of information regarding the cell functionality aspect of BRCA mutations that could greatly enhance the doctor's ability to identify high-risk carriers," said Asher Y. Salmon, M.D., a breast cancer specialist at the Hadassah Hebrew University Medical Center in Jerusalem, Israel.
Women with a mutation in their BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene have a significantly increased risk for developing breast cancer or ovarian cancer, and for many of those at risk disease may develop at an early age. Researchers are investigating ways to detect these genetic mutations so women carrying the genes can consider taking measures to reduce their cancer risk or increase the chance for detecting cancer in its early stages.
"The current tool for mutation detection is gene sequencing, which is expensive, time-consuming and, in many cases, lacking clear and decisive clinical decision making information," said Salmon. "In many cases, the current sequencing tool identifies a mutation, but we do not know if the mutation is neutral or harmful."
According to Salmon, emerging evidence has revealed that cells with a mutation in one of the two copies of the BRCA1 or BRCA2 genes have a distinct gene expression profile when exposed to causes of DNA damage, such as radiation.
After collecting white blood cells from blood samples donated by nine healthy women with a mutated BRCA1 gene and eight healthy women with a mutated BRCA2 gene, Salmon and his colleagues cultured the cells and exposed them to radiation. They then extracted the total RNA from these cells and compared it to the total RNA from identically treated white blood cells from 10 healthy, noncarrier women.
About 1,500 genes were differentially expressed between carriers and noncarriers. They narrowed this list to 18 genes that were the most significantly differentiated between the two groups of women. The final narrowing was done with a validation study of a model using 21 of the newly identified genes and five control genes to predict the risk for carrying a mutation. They used blood samples from an independent group of 40 women who were carriers of mutated BRCA1 and/or BRCA2 and 17 noncarrier women. The model had a sensitivity of 95 percent and a specificity of 88 percent.
According to Salmon, this test can portray whether a patient carries a harmful mutation regardless of the patient's ethnic origin or specific mutation. In addition, it is affordable and quick, he said.
"In wealthy societies, it can become a screening tool for identifying individuals with a very high susceptibility for carrying a mutation, and full sequencing can be reserved only for them," Salmon said. "In societies in which sequencing is not feasible, this test can substitute for it with a very high accuracy rate."
Salmon and colleagues are assembling a large validation study in Europe and North America to analyze the efficacy of the test in heterogeneous populations.
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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by American Association for Cancer Research (AACR).
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Journal Reference:
Asher Y. Salmon, Mali Salmon-Divon, Tamar Zahavi, Yulia Barash, Rachel S. Levy-Drummer, Jasmine Jacob-Hirsch, and Tamar Peretz. Determination of Molecular Markers for BRCA1 and BRCA2 Heterozygosity Using Gene Expression Profiling. Cancer Prev Res, January 22, 2013 DOI: 10.1158/1940-6207.CAPR-12-0105
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.
Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.
LA PAZ/CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez is undergoing physical therapy to hasten his return from Cuba after surgery there last month for the cancer jeopardizing his 14-year rule, Bolivian President Evo Morales said on Tuesday.
The comments by Morales, a fellow leftist and close friend of Chavez, added to positive signals from Venezuelan officials that the president was improving and may be able to return from Cuba, where he had surgery on December 11.
He has not been seen or heard from in public since then.
"I communicated with Cuba and, brothers and sisters, we have good news about our brother, President Hugo Chavez. He is already undergoing physical therapy to return to his country," Morales said in a speech to parliament in La Paz.
"Latin American leaders like Fidel (Castro) and Hugo Chavez are very much needed at international events, and I'm certain that soon we will be (together again) at presidential summits," Morales added, without giving more details.
There were rumors around New Year's Day that the socialist Chavez, 58, was on life support. They have given way in the past few days to speculation he may soon return to Venezuela.
Local media reports have said a military hospital in Caracas is being prepared to receive Chavez.
In the absence of detailed medical information, Venezuelans are debating whether Chavez may be able to recover well enough to continue governing or whether he wants to come home to smooth a handover of power or simply to say farewell.
'ENCOURAGING NEWS'
After Morales' comments, Information Minister Ernesto Villegas said no return date was yet planned for Chavez.
Though still in a "difficult" and "complex" battle for his health, the latest news from Havana was promising and Chavez was in "good spirits", the minister said in comments carried live on TV after a cabinet meeting in Caracas.
"Commander Chavez is in Havana in the process of full re-establishment of his health," Villegas said. "The (latest) report was very encouraging ... There is no return date yet."
Before going to Cuba, Chavez named Vice President Nicolas Maduro, a former bus driver who rose through the ranks to become one of Chavez's most faithful allies, as his preferred successor should he be incapacitated.
Maduro would, though, have to win a new vote.
Morales and Venezuelan officials' comments suggest Chavez may have come through some of the worst effects of his operation. The government had acknowledged he suffered bleeding and a lung infection after surgery.
The disease was detected in his pelvic area in mid-2011.
Venezuela's foreign minister said on Monday that Chavez was laughing and joking, as well as giving instructions again on government matters. But speculation persists that the cancer may have metastasized and Chavez may not have long to live.
Some opponents are skeptical, asking why Chavez cannot speak to the nation if he can chat with ministers.
(Writing by Hilary Burke and Andrew Cawthorne; editing by Philip Barbara)
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israelis vote on Tuesday for the first time since revolutions convulsed their Arab neighbors, in an election expected to push the Jewish state even further to the right, away from peace with Palestinians and towards greater confrontation with Iran.
After a lackluster campaign, the election could be on course to give Israel the most hardline government in its history, deepening its international isolation and potentially putting strains on its relations with Washington.
Polls - though notoriously inaccurate in the past - predict right-wing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to be re-elected, but with a parliamentary majority forecast to shrink, in part because of the rise of a far-right group even more uncompromising than his own ultranationalist allies.
The election finds Israel largely focusing inward at a time when its region is changing faster than ever.
The Arab revolts of the past two years have barely figured in the campaign, and even the center-left Labour Party, once pioneers of talks with the Palestinians, has avoided focusing on a peace process in deep freeze since 2010.
Netanyahu made an election-eve appeal on Monday to wavering supporters to "come home", showing concern over the forecast far-right surge that could see millionaire Naftali Bennett's upstart Jewish Home party place third.
At a final campaign appearance in Jerusalem, Netanyahu voiced confidence his traditional backers would not abandon him, and repeated his stump pledges to keep Israel safe and build Jewish settlements over international opposition.
"I have no doubt that many, many people will decide at the last minute to come home to Likud-Yisrael Beitenu," he said.
"I have a good feeling. And at the last minute, I appeal to each and every citizen going to the ballot box: 'Decide for whom you are going to vote - for a divided and weak Israel or for a united and strong Israel and a large governing party?'"
Bennett, a charismatic former settler leader, advocates annexing parts of the West Bank, a position even to the right of Netanyahu, who still says he supports an eventual Palestinian state on some of the land Israel captured in a 1967 war.
Netanyahu's Likud entered the campaign in an electoral alliance with the ultranationalist Yisrael Beitenu party, meant to shore up his right flank. But the final polls released last week show his list losing 10 seats in the 120-seat Knesset and Jewish Home winning as many as 14.
The polls predict Likud/Yisrael Beitenu and its religious and right wing coalition partners securing a majority of just three seats. Bennett, a former Netanyahu aide, has made no secret that he wants to join Likud/Yisrael Beitenu in a ruling coalition, pulling it even further to the right. He has even put Netanyahu's face on his party's campaign posters.
IRAN
Netanyahu's relationship with U.S. President Barack Obama has been frosty.
Washington disagrees with his building settlements in occupied territory - which most countries consider illegal but Netanyahu says is a Jewish right derived from the bible - and on the urgency of possible military action against Iran.
During the campaign, parties have avoided discussing the sensitive question of whether and when to use military force against Iran. Netanyahu has said preventing Iran from developing nuclear weapons would remain his priority.
Tehran denies seeking atomic arms. The United States and European countries share Israel's view that Iran has nuclear military ambitions that must be halted, but say sanctions and diplomacy are the best ways to persuade Tehran to stop.
A relatively weak showing would make Netanyahu more susceptible to the demands of potential coalition partners, including Bennett.
Visiting Jerusalem's Western Wall shrine on Monday, Bennett said he prayed "to restore Israel's Jewish soul".
"Today we are embarking on a wonderful journey to unite all the parts of Israel: religious and secular and haredi (ultra-Orthodox), all of us together," he told reporters.
Though support for center-left parties has edged higher, their leaders failed to present a united front. Labour is led by Shelly Yachimovich, a former journalist who focuses on economic and social issues and has ruled out joining a Netanyahu-led cabinet. Labour is forecast to place second with about 18 seats.
Other center-left parties, while hoping their bloc can win a majority, have said they could join a Netanyahu-led government, which might reduce its rightward tilt.
Tzipi Livni, a former foreign minister and negotiator with the Palestinians, has promised to work for a regional peace deal. Her Hatnuah party is expected to win fewer than 10 seats.
In the final hours of the campaign, Netanyahu also took new aim at pocketbook issues, after being rocked by figures last week that showed Israel's budget deficit last year was, at 4.2 percent of gross domestic product, double the original estimate.
He announced he would appoint a popular minister to oversee state land allocation with the aim of lowering housing prices.
Polling stations open at 7 a.m. (0500 GMT) on Tuesday and close at 10 p.m.. Immediately after voting ends, Israeli media release exit polls, with official results due the next morning and party leaders already beginning informal coalition talks.
No one party has ever won a parliamentary majority in Israel, and its president traditionally asks the leader of the biggest bloc to try to form a governing coalition.
Today we remember the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr.: the man who laid out his dream for a more equal America nearly 50 years ago. Unfortunately, we haven't made as much progress as King probably would have hoped. Though relevant government statistics are limited and do not go back to the 1960s, available data suggests that black America still has a long way to go before attaining true equality of opportunity.
1. Black unemployment has gotten worse.
A larger share of blacks are jobless now than 40 years ago. The black unemployment rate in December of 2012 was 14 percent, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, up from 9.4 percent in December of 1972. In contrast, the white unemployment rate is 6.9 percent. The percentage of blacks with a job, at 52.6 percent, is lower than it was 40 years ago and far lower than the percentage of whites with a job (59.5 percent).
2. Fewer black men are in the labor force.
A smaller share of black men are in the labor force -- that is, working or looking for a job -- than 40 years ago. Slightly more than two-thirds of black men were in the labor force in December of 2012, down from 78 percent 40 years ago, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. In contrast, 73.3 percent of white men are in the labor force.
3. We haven't closed the wealth gap between black and white Americans.
Blacks are staggeringly worse off than whites when it comes to wealth. The median black household had a net worth of $5,217 (in 2012 dollars) in 2010, according to the Census Bureau. In contrast, the median white household had a net worth of $116,588. The median white household is 39 percent wealthier than in 1988, while the median black household has become 36 percent poorer, according to Census Bureau data.
4. Black Americans have a higher incarceration rate than white Americans.
Blacks Americans were imprisoned at a higher rate than whites in 1970 and 1972, according to government statistics. That has not changed. Black males' incarceration rate was six times higher than white males' incarceration rate in 2011, according to government data. Roughly 7 percent of all black males between the age of 25 and 39 were in jail in 2011. Since employment statistics don't include people behind bars, blacks' high incarceration rate makes their employment situation look better than it is.
The bottom line: Martin Luther King's dream has not fully become reality.
(Reuters) - Veteran journalist Barbara Walters was admitted to a Washington. D.C., hospital over the weekend after she fell and cut her head at the British ambassador's residence, a spokesman for the ABC television network said on Sunday.
Jeffrey Schneider, a senior vice president with ABC News, said Walters fell on the stairs on Saturday evening while attending an event.
"Out of an abundance of caution," Walters, 83, went to the hospital, where she remained for observation on Sunday, Schneider said.
"Barbara is alert (and telling everyone what to do), which we all take as a very positive sign," Schneider said in a written statement.
(Reporting by James B. Kelleher, editing by Stacey Joyce)
Warmer soils release additional CO2 into atmosphere; Effect stabilizes over longer term Public release date: 20-Jan-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Beth Potier beth.potier@unh.edu 603-862-1566 University of New Hampshire
DURHAM, N.H. -- Warmer temperatures due to climate change could cause soils to release additional carbon into the atmosphere, thereby enhancing climate change but that effect diminishes over the long term, finds a new study in the journal Nature Climate Change. The study, from University of New Hampshire professor Serita Frey and co-authors from the University of California-Davis and the Marine Biological Laboratory, sheds new light on how soil microorganisms respond to temperature and could improve predictions of how climate warming will affect the carbon dioxide flux from soils.
The activities of soil microorganisms release 10 times the carbon dioxide that human activities do on a yearly basis. Historically, this release of carbon dioxide has been kept in check by plants' uptake of the gas from the atmosphere. However, human activities are potentially upsetting this balance.
Frey and co-authors Johan Six and Juhwan Lee of UC-Davis and Jerry Melillo of the Marine Biological Laboratory were curious how increased temperatures due to climate change might alter the amount of carbon released from soils. "While they're low on the charisma scale, soil microorganisms are so critically important to the carbon balance of the atmosphere," Frey says. "If we warm the soil due to climate warming, are we going to fundamentally alter the flux of carbon into the atmosphere in a way that is going to feed back to enhance climate change?"
Yes, the researchers found. And no.
The study examined the efficiency of soil organisms how completely they utilize food sources to maintain their cellular machinery depending upon the food source and the temperature under two different scenarios. In the first short-term scenario, these researchers found that warming temperatures had little effect on soils' ability to use glucose, a simple food source released from the roots of plants. For phenol, a more complex food source common in decomposing wood or leaves, soils showed a 60 percent drop in efficiency at higher temperatures.
"As you increase temperature, you decrease the efficiency soil microorganisms release more carbon dioxide to the atmosphere but only for the more complex food sources," Frey explains. "You could infer that as the soil warms, more carbon dioxide will be released into the atmosphere, exacerbating the climate problem."
That effect diminishes, however, in the second scenario, in which soils were warmed to 5 degrees Celsius above the ambient temperature for 18 years. "When the soil was heated to simulate climate warming, we saw a change in the community to be more efficient in the longer term," Frey says, lessening the amount of carbon dioxide the soils release into the atmosphere and, in turn, their impact on the climate. "The positive feedback response may not be as strong as we originally predicted."
The research team also examined how changes in soil microorganism efficiency might influence long term storage of carbon in soils as predicted by a commonly used ecosystem model. Models of this type are used to simulate ecosystem carbon dynamics in response to different perturbations, such as land-use change and climate warming. These models generally assume that efficiency is fixed and that it does not change with temperature or other environmental conditions. The team found a large effect on long-term soil carbon storage as predicted by the model when they varied carbon use efficiency in a fashion comparable to what they observed in their experiments. "There is clearly a need for new models that incorporate an efficiency parameter that is allowed to fluctuate in response to temperature and other environmental variables," Six says.
The researchers hypothesize that long-term warming may change the community of soil microorganisms so that it becomes more efficient. Organism adaptation, change in the species that comprise the soils, and/or changes in the availability of various nutrients could result in this increased efficiency.
This study was based on work done at the Harvard Forest Long-Term Ecological Research site in Petersham, Mass., where Frey and Melillo have been warming two sites one 9 meters square, the other 36 meters square -- with underground cables for two versus 18 years. "It's like having a heating blanket under the forest floor," Frey says, "allowing us to examine how this particular environmental changelong-term soil warmingis altering how the soil functions."
###
The article, "The Temperature Response of Soil Microbial Efficiency and its Feedback to Climate," is published in the advanced online publication of Nature Climate Change on Jan. 20, 2013. To access the abstract or full text (subscribers only) of the article after the embargo lifts, use the digital object identifier (DOI) number 10.1038/NCLIMATE1796 at this link: http://dx.doi.org/.
This work was supported by an NSF Faculty Early Career Development Award, the NSF Long-term Ecological Research (LTER) Program, a DOE National Institute for Climatic Change Research (NICCR) grant, and a Harvard Forest Bullard Fellowship to Frey.
Photographs available to download:
http://www.unh.edu/news/releases/2013/jan/frey.jpg
Caption: Serita Frey, professor of natural resources at the University of New Hampshire
Credit: Perry Smith, UNH Photographic Services
http://www.unh.edu/news/releases/2013/jan/forestplot.jpg
Caption: Research sites at the Harvard Forest Long-Term Ecological Research site in Petersham, Mass., where Frey and Melillo have been warming two sites with underground cables. The photo was taken during a January thaw on a 50-degree day; the heated plots, which had been snow-covered, melted before the unheated ones.
Credit: Alix Contosa, postdoctoral researcher at UNH
http://www.unh.edu/news/releases/2013/jan/freyinfield.jpg
Caption: Serita Frey (left) collects samples with UMass-Amherst graduate student George Hamaoui at Harvard Forest.
Credit: Brian Godbois, research assistant at UNH
http://www.unh.edu/news/releases/2013/jan/freysoil.jpg
Caption: Collecting soil samples.
Credit: Courtesy of Serita Frey
Watch Serita Frey describe her research:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0XpJdPRROw&list=PLAAADC61677E4780B&index=12
The University of New Hampshire, founded in 1866, is a world-class public research university with the feel of a New England liberal arts college. A land, sea, and space-grant university, UNH is the state's flagship public institution, enrolling 12,200 undergraduate and 2,300 graduate students.
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Warmer soils release additional CO2 into atmosphere; Effect stabilizes over longer term Public release date: 20-Jan-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Beth Potier beth.potier@unh.edu 603-862-1566 University of New Hampshire
DURHAM, N.H. -- Warmer temperatures due to climate change could cause soils to release additional carbon into the atmosphere, thereby enhancing climate change but that effect diminishes over the long term, finds a new study in the journal Nature Climate Change. The study, from University of New Hampshire professor Serita Frey and co-authors from the University of California-Davis and the Marine Biological Laboratory, sheds new light on how soil microorganisms respond to temperature and could improve predictions of how climate warming will affect the carbon dioxide flux from soils.
The activities of soil microorganisms release 10 times the carbon dioxide that human activities do on a yearly basis. Historically, this release of carbon dioxide has been kept in check by plants' uptake of the gas from the atmosphere. However, human activities are potentially upsetting this balance.
Frey and co-authors Johan Six and Juhwan Lee of UC-Davis and Jerry Melillo of the Marine Biological Laboratory were curious how increased temperatures due to climate change might alter the amount of carbon released from soils. "While they're low on the charisma scale, soil microorganisms are so critically important to the carbon balance of the atmosphere," Frey says. "If we warm the soil due to climate warming, are we going to fundamentally alter the flux of carbon into the atmosphere in a way that is going to feed back to enhance climate change?"
Yes, the researchers found. And no.
The study examined the efficiency of soil organisms how completely they utilize food sources to maintain their cellular machinery depending upon the food source and the temperature under two different scenarios. In the first short-term scenario, these researchers found that warming temperatures had little effect on soils' ability to use glucose, a simple food source released from the roots of plants. For phenol, a more complex food source common in decomposing wood or leaves, soils showed a 60 percent drop in efficiency at higher temperatures.
"As you increase temperature, you decrease the efficiency soil microorganisms release more carbon dioxide to the atmosphere but only for the more complex food sources," Frey explains. "You could infer that as the soil warms, more carbon dioxide will be released into the atmosphere, exacerbating the climate problem."
That effect diminishes, however, in the second scenario, in which soils were warmed to 5 degrees Celsius above the ambient temperature for 18 years. "When the soil was heated to simulate climate warming, we saw a change in the community to be more efficient in the longer term," Frey says, lessening the amount of carbon dioxide the soils release into the atmosphere and, in turn, their impact on the climate. "The positive feedback response may not be as strong as we originally predicted."
The research team also examined how changes in soil microorganism efficiency might influence long term storage of carbon in soils as predicted by a commonly used ecosystem model. Models of this type are used to simulate ecosystem carbon dynamics in response to different perturbations, such as land-use change and climate warming. These models generally assume that efficiency is fixed and that it does not change with temperature or other environmental conditions. The team found a large effect on long-term soil carbon storage as predicted by the model when they varied carbon use efficiency in a fashion comparable to what they observed in their experiments. "There is clearly a need for new models that incorporate an efficiency parameter that is allowed to fluctuate in response to temperature and other environmental variables," Six says.
The researchers hypothesize that long-term warming may change the community of soil microorganisms so that it becomes more efficient. Organism adaptation, change in the species that comprise the soils, and/or changes in the availability of various nutrients could result in this increased efficiency.
This study was based on work done at the Harvard Forest Long-Term Ecological Research site in Petersham, Mass., where Frey and Melillo have been warming two sites one 9 meters square, the other 36 meters square -- with underground cables for two versus 18 years. "It's like having a heating blanket under the forest floor," Frey says, "allowing us to examine how this particular environmental changelong-term soil warmingis altering how the soil functions."
###
The article, "The Temperature Response of Soil Microbial Efficiency and its Feedback to Climate," is published in the advanced online publication of Nature Climate Change on Jan. 20, 2013. To access the abstract or full text (subscribers only) of the article after the embargo lifts, use the digital object identifier (DOI) number 10.1038/NCLIMATE1796 at this link: http://dx.doi.org/.
This work was supported by an NSF Faculty Early Career Development Award, the NSF Long-term Ecological Research (LTER) Program, a DOE National Institute for Climatic Change Research (NICCR) grant, and a Harvard Forest Bullard Fellowship to Frey.
Photographs available to download:
http://www.unh.edu/news/releases/2013/jan/frey.jpg
Caption: Serita Frey, professor of natural resources at the University of New Hampshire
Credit: Perry Smith, UNH Photographic Services
http://www.unh.edu/news/releases/2013/jan/forestplot.jpg
Caption: Research sites at the Harvard Forest Long-Term Ecological Research site in Petersham, Mass., where Frey and Melillo have been warming two sites with underground cables. The photo was taken during a January thaw on a 50-degree day; the heated plots, which had been snow-covered, melted before the unheated ones.
Credit: Alix Contosa, postdoctoral researcher at UNH
http://www.unh.edu/news/releases/2013/jan/freyinfield.jpg
Caption: Serita Frey (left) collects samples with UMass-Amherst graduate student George Hamaoui at Harvard Forest.
Credit: Brian Godbois, research assistant at UNH
http://www.unh.edu/news/releases/2013/jan/freysoil.jpg
Caption: Collecting soil samples.
Credit: Courtesy of Serita Frey
Watch Serita Frey describe her research:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0XpJdPRROw&list=PLAAADC61677E4780B&index=12
The University of New Hampshire, founded in 1866, is a world-class public research university with the feel of a New England liberal arts college. A land, sea, and space-grant university, UNH is the state's flagship public institution, enrolling 12,200 undergraduate and 2,300 graduate students.
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Thailand's third richest man has raised his takeover offer for Singapore's Fraser and Neave Ltd , valuing the property and drinks conglomerate at nearly $11.3 billion, a move to fend off a rival bid from a group run by Indonesian tycoon Stephen Riady.
Thailand's TCC Assets Ltd, headed by billionaire Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi, increased his offer to S$9.55 a share, above the S$9.08 made by a consortium led by Riady's Singapore-listed property company Overseas Union Enterprise Ltd .
A formal auction will begin on Monday if neither bidder declares a final offer, according to rules set by Singapore's securities regulator, the Securities Industry Council (SIC). The regulator stepped in this month to try to end the takeover battle that was sparked in July when Charoen bought a 22 percent stake in F&N from Singapore's OCBC group.
"It is unprecedented to go down the road of an auction of this format in Singapore," said David Smith, head of corporate governance at Aberdeen Asset Management Asia Ltd.
Charoen acquired an additional 90.8 million shares, or a 6.3 percent stake in F&N, at S$9.55 each on Friday. The move raised his total stake in F&N - held through TCC Assets Ltd and Thai Beverage PLC - to 40.45 percent, including acceptance from shareholders. Charoen's previous offer was S$8.88 per share.
The Thai gambit puts the pressure on the Overseas Union-led consortium to respond by either declaring a final offer or withdrawing from Southeast Asia's largest ever corporate acquisition. If it comes to an auction, both sides must revise their offers in cash and without conditions, until a final winning offer is accepted or until the securities watchdog steps in.
At stake is a 130-year-old group with property assets worth more than S$8 billion as well as soft drinks, dairy and publishing businesses.
Members of the Overseas Union-led consortium, including U.S. hedge fund Farallon Capital Management LLC, spent Friday night discussing their next move, according to a source with direct knowledge of the matter.
The SIC, which presides over takeovers and mergers in Singapore, has 16 members drawn mostly from the private sector, including industry representatives, financial professionals and legal experts.
The auction structure is similar to the one proposed to resolve the stalemate between Royal Dutch Shell Plc and Thailand's PTT Exploration and Production PLC as they battled for control over Cove Energy PLC . The Thai energy company ultimately won.
Charoen, worth $6.2 billion according to Forbes, is pitted against Overseas Union's chairman, Riady, who is also the president of the Lippo group of companies founded by his father Mochtar Riady.
PROTRACTED BATTLE
In the fight for F&N, Charoen has extended the deadline of his previous offer seven times and the Overseas Union group twice. The multiple extensions have tested the patience of F&N shareholders.
F&N's independent financial advisor JP Morgan had previously said its sum-of-the-parts valuation of F&N is S$8.58 to S$11.56 per share. F&N stock last traded at S$9.58.
Hedge funds have piled into F&N, whose shares trade above Charoen's offer price in expectation of a protracted bidding war.
Kirin Holdings Co Ltd , F&N's second-biggest shareholder with a stake of around 14.8 percent, has given its conditional support to the Overseas Union group.
The Japanese brewer will offer to buy F&N's food and beverage business for S$2.7 billion if the Overseas Union group's bid is successful. JP Morgan's valuation of that unit is S$1.88 billion to S$3.82 billion.
If Charoen wins control of F&N, analysts say he is likely to use F&N's distribution network in Singapore and Malaysia to sell his other products, and to market F&N brands in Thailand, where he already has an edge.
Charoen's Thai Beverage brews Chang Beer, second in Thailand in terms of market share by sales volume, on top of producing spirits, energy drinks and instant coffee. Charoen also has a sprawling property empire under TCC Land.
F&N is the leader in the soft drinks markets in Malaysia and Singapore, with a 31.3 percent and 21.4 percent market share, respectively, according to research firm Euromonitor.
($1 = 1.2232 Singapore dollars)
(Additional reporting by Michael Flaherty in Hong Kong; Editing by Daniel Magnowski)
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Public release date: 20-Jan-2013
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