South Korea & Japan: Hite Brewery plans sale of Jinro unit
Hite Brewery Ltd. said July 21that it plans to sell Jinro Ltd.'s wholly owned unit in Japan to expand the distiller's presence in the market there, The Associated Press released July 21.
Last year, a consortium led by Hite, South Korea's top beer maker by market share, purchased Jinro, the country's largest distiller, for KRW3.41 trillion (US$3.6 billion; €2.8 billion).
"There are lots of potential investors that have great interest in Jinro Japan and now our lead manager is contacting them," You Kyung-jong, a Hite spokesman, told Dow Jones Newswires.
"By selling the unit to a big Japanese distributor, we hope we can improve our distribution network in the country and in turn, increase our sales there," You said. Jinro manufactures soju, a traditional Korean distilled drink.
Hite has hired UBS AG as a lead manager for the unit's sale, Hite said in a regulatory filing. The company didn't elaborate further about potential buyers or the schedule for the sale.
Last year, Jinro recorded sales worth around KRW190 billion (US$200 million; 1€58 million) from exports to Japan, out of its total sales of 729.7 billion won (US$768 million; €606 million), You said.
Hite plans to list Jinro on the Korea Exchange next year. As of the end of March, Hite was the largest shareholder in Jinro with a 41.85 percent stake.
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