Asahi Group Holdings Ltd. agreed to place its stake in Tsingtao Brewery Co. back into Chinese hands, selling its holding to conglomerate Fosun Group and the local brewer for about $941 million.
Asahi is selling its 20 percent holding in China's third-largest brewer for $27.22 Hong Kong dollars a share, the Japanese company said in a statement Wednesday. That's a 32 percent discount to today's closing price of HK$40 a share. Fosun will pay about $847 million for an 18 percent stake while Tsingtao will pay approximately $94 million for the rest.
Fosun has been centering its investment portfolio around what it calls "wealth, health, happiness" industries that provide goods and services for Chinese middle-class families. The Tsingtao deal marks the biggest investment in food and beverage for Fosun, after being at the center of a government crackdown on offshore acquisitions that sought to reduce leverage and risk in the country's financial system.