Kirin To Sell Wholly Owned Seasoning Subsidiary To M'bishi

TOKYO (Nikkei)--Kirin Holdings Co. (2503) said Monday that it will sell Kirin Kyowa Foods Co. to Mitsubishi Corp. (8058), unloading its 100% stake in the seasoning and food ingredient company in two stages.

The deal, valued at 30.5 billion yen, reflects Kirin's plan to focus on core beverage operations, while trading house Mitsubishi will work to expand food segment sales overseas.

The firm will transfer around 81% of Kirin Kyowa's stock to Mitsubishi on July 1. The subsidiary's corporate name and brand will be changed and the remaining shares will be acquired by Mitsubishi on Jan. 1, 2015. Kirin will continue to procure ingredients for beer and other items from the company.

Kirin will use the proceeds from the sale to reward shareholders, repay loans and invest in operations at home and abroad.

Established through a 2009 merger between Kyowa Hakko Food Specialties Co. and Kirin Food-Tech Co., Kirin Kyowa supplies seasoning and other ingredients to restaurant chains and food producers. Its sales reached 71.3 billion yen, while operating profit came to 1.5 billion yen for the fiscal year ended Dec. 31.

In recent years, Kirin has unloaded noncore business holdings, including hotel operations and health food products.

Mitsubishi's sales of food ingredients and additives will top 100 billion yen with the acquisition of Kirin Kyowa, placing it within the world's top 10 for such operations. The firm will use its sales channels in Asia, Europe and the U.S. to lift seasoning and food ingredient sales.

(The Nikkei, March 19 morning edition)

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