Japan's Kirin to take 15% of San Miguel

TOKYO, Japan -- Japan's biggest brewer, Kirin Brewery, said Friday it would buy a 15 percent stake in the Philippines' largest food and beverage group San Miguel Corp for about 68 billion yen ($540 million).

Kirin is already Asia's largest brewer in terms of sales volume. It also holds 46 percent of the No. 2 Australasian beer and wine group Lion Nathan.

But it faces fierce competition from rivals Asahi, Sapporo and Suntory in Japan's domestic beer market.

Kirin said the deal with San Miguel would give the company a foothold in the important Southeast Asian beer market.

Kirin said the transaction, valued at 27.9 billion Philippine pesos, would be completed after San Miguel issues new shares in early 2002. SMC did not say how many shares it would issue.

SMC is controlled by chairman and chief executive Eduardo Cojuangco Jr, a long-term ally of ousted former Philippines president Joseph Estrada.

Shares in Kirin closed 2.11 percent higher at 871 yen Friday, after hitting 881 yen earlier in the day. Its rise outpaced a 0.75 percent gain in the benchmark Nikkei 225 average.

In Manila, where the PSE Composite index put on 1.65 percent, SMC shares were up 6 percent to 44.00 pesos.

Reuters contributed to this report.