Japan: Kirin Brewery Co., Japan's biggest beverage maker by sales, added 7 cents to $9.36 per share on November 24. The company said it will spend 3.9 billion yen for a 25 percent stake in China's Dalian Daxue Brewery Co. in a push to expand market share in one of the world's largest beer markets. Kirin said it plans to double the Chinese brewer's yearly beer production capacity to 400,000 kiloliters by December 2008.

28 November, 2004