Fosun agrees to buy Asahi’s stake in Tsingtao Brewery

Fosun International Limited, a Chinese international conglomerate and investment company, is securing a 17.99 percent stake in the Tsingtao Brewery from Japan’s Asahi Group Holdings in a deal reportedly worth HK$6.6 billion (US$840 million), Yicai.com reported.

Asahi has agreed to sell most of its stake, about 243 million shares, at a price of HK$27.22 dollars to Fosun and its subsidiaries. After the takeover, Fosun will become Tsingtao Brewery’s second-largest shareholder, which is China’s second-largest brewer.

Guo Guangchang, the founder and chairman of Fosun, said on Wednesday night that the company will continue to support Tsingtao Brewery’s strategy of making quality beers.

Meanwhile, Fosun will bring in its resources in the sports and entertainment sectors, so as to improve the synergy of all of its investment enterprises, and to better cooperate in the fields of hotels, restaurants and commercial real estate, Guo added.

(ASIA TIMES)