China: Heineken co-owned Kingway Brewery Holdings Ltd. secured HK$200 million loan for expansion

Kingway Brewery Holdings Ltd said it has secured a HK$200 million, 48-month term bank loan which will be used 'to finance the business expansion and the working capital requirement of the company,' AFX News Limited released November 11.

Chairman Ye Xuquan said one of the conditions of the loan is for Guangdong Holdings Group Ltd and/or Heineken-APB (China) Pte Ltd (HAPBC) to own directly or indirectly at least 51 pct of the company's issued ordinary shares. He did not identify the lender.

As of November 03, Guangdong Holdings controls 52.60 pct of the issued share capital of Kingway, while HAPBC holds a stake of approximately 21.43 pct.

Chinese beer maker Kingway Brewery Holdings Ltd. has signed an agreement to invest RMB 400 million in a new brewery in the southern province of Guangdong, China Knowledge released November 03. The new brewery located in Foshan City will boost the company’s total annual production capacity to 1.7 million t.

(1US$ = HK$7.8; CHY7.9)

08 November, 2006