China: Zhaoke Investment Co. is expected to soon complete acquisition of Jinan Beer brewery

“The acquisition of Jinan Beer by Shandong Zhaoke Investment Co., Ltd. is expected to complete at the end of October,” expressed a senior director of Jinan Beer, signaling an end of the years-long pursuit of the company reform for the Jinan-based brewery, SinoCast China Business Daily News released October 12.

Although with annual production capacity of just 250,000 tons at present, the state-owned Jinan Beer is the second largest brewery by sales in eastern China's Shandong Province, which is the country's second largest province in beer consumption, and it therefore has long been coveted by domestic and foreign brewery giants for a stake.

Before Zhaoke, Jinan Beer had ever talked with 22 breweries from home and aboard over shares sale, but all of them ended up with no result, and it now finally reaches ties with Zhaoke, a seldom-known private company in Shandong.

Earlier in June, the Jinan government has agreed the sale of state-owned shares of Jinan Beer to Zhaoke, and the agreement has been prolonged until now.

13 October, 2006