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Asahi, Tsingtao Strengthening Brew Ties in China |
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Thursday, 19 November 2009 10:58 |
TOKYO—Asahi Breweries Ltd. and group company Tsingtao Brewery Co. of China have agreed to forge closer ties to tap demand and stay competitive in China's high-growth beer market.
Asahi President Hitoshi Ogita and Tsingtao President Jin Zhiguo held a joint press conference Wednesday where they said the two companies would purchase barley and hops together in order to negotiate lower prices, and would use their respective facilities inside China to brew each other's beers. They also said the companies would consider ways of working together to strengthen sales.
Asahi Breweries spent roughly 64 billion yen (US$716 million) in April to acquire a 19.74 percent stake in Tsingtao Brewery by purchasing shares from Anheuser-Busch InBev.
Ogita said that Asahi Breweries would fully back efforts by Tsingtao to expand its share of China's beer market, since this would enable Asahi to recover its investment in Tsingtao. The president added that working through Tsingtao to fortify Asahi's business in China would help the Japanese brewer return to the black there.
(C) 2009 Asia Pulse Pte Ltd.
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