  While the occurrence rate of wide giant planets appears to increase with
stellar mass at least up through the A-type regime, B-type stars have not been
systematically studied in large-scale surveys so far. It therefore remains
unclear up to what stellar mass this occurrence trend continues. The B-star
Exoplanet Abundance Study (BEAST) is a direct imaging survey with the extreme
adaptive optics instrument SPHERE, targeting 85 B-type stars in the young
Scorpius-Centaurus (Sco-Cen) region with the aim to detect giant planets at
wide separations and constrain their occurrence rate and physical properties.
The statistical outcome of the survey will help determine if and where an upper
stellar mass limit for planet formation occurs. In this work, we describe the
selection and characterization of the BEAST target sample. Particular emphasis
is placed on the age of each system, which is a central parameter in
interpreting direct imaging observations. We implement a novel scheme for age
dating based on kinematic sub-structures within Sco-Cen, which complements and
expands upon previous age determinations in the literature. We also present
initial results from the first epoch observations, including the detections of
ten stellar companions, of which six were previously unknown. All planetary
candidates in the survey will need follow up in second epoch observations,
which are part of the allocated observational programme and will be executed in
the near future.
