South Korea: Hite Brewery Co. and Jinro Co.’s merger will bring the liquor monopoly

South Korea's biggest beer producer Hite Brewery Co.'s planned merger with Jinro Co., a top soju maker, will bring about a monopoly in the liquor industry, according to the majority of South Korean marketing professors.

The survey conducted by Dongseo Research revealed that 52.4 % of merchandising and marketing professors believe that a monopoly in the liquor market will be formed following the merger of Hite and Jinro, Yonhap news agency commented.

A consortium led by Hite signed a formal agreement early this month to acquire Jinro, the nation's top distiller, which has been in court receivership since May 2003, for 3.41 trillion won (US$3.36 billion) from its creditors.

The survey of 63 professors who teach merchandising at four-year colleges was conducted two weeks ago at the request of a promotion agency responsible for the public relations of four regional soju makers. While the survey originally targeted answers from 389 professors, only 63 of them responded, the promotion agency said.

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