Snow Brand Food to liquidate


President Koshiro Iwase bows Friday after announcing the impending liquidation of Snow Brand Food

TOKYO, Japan -- Japan's troubled Snow Brand Food Co will liquidate its business by the end of April, the company said Friday.

It will fire most of its 1000 workers and expects to lose about 24 billion yen ($180 million) in the liquidation, it said.

Shares in its parent, Snow Brand Milk Products, plunged more than 13 percent after the announcement.

Snow Brand Milk, which holds 65 percent of Snow Brand Food, will extend about 25 billion yen in aid to help its subsidiary meet its obligations, Kyodo news agency reported.

Snow Brand Food, formerly Japan's sixth largest meat-packer, admitted on January 23 to falsely labelling Australian beef as domestic beef.

It was seeking to take advantage of a government scheme intended to help the domestic meat industry deal with the impact of mad cow disease, which was discovered in Japan last year.

Police raids


Then-president Shozo Yoshida resigned on January 29 to take responsibility for the meat labeling scandal

Japanese police raided the offices and plants of Snow Brand Food as part of their investigation into the company's activities.

Snow Brand Food's then-president Shozo Yoshida resigned on January 29 to take responsibility for the scandal.

The company initially tried to restructure in the first half of February, but a falling share price made this too difficult.

On Friday, it said it would seek to sell its four businesses units and liquidate its operations.

New president Koshiro Iwase said the company would make "utmost efforts" to find jobs for its employees, Kyodo reported.

In response, Snow Brand Milk said it would aim to unveil a new group revival plan by the end of next month, according to Reuters news agency.

"We hope to announce a revival plan by the end of March," vice president Haruhiko Okada told a news conference.

Snow Brand Milk saw its own reputation suffer from a milk-poisoning scandal in June 2000.

In November, Snow Brand Milk forecast a group net loss of 24 billion yen ($179 million) on sales of 1.2 trillion yen ($9 billion) for the year through March 2002.

Snow Brand Milk shares fell 19 yen or 13.19 percent to close at 125 yen after Friday's liquidation announcement.

Shares in Snow Brand Food, which last traded at 36 yen, are suspended and will be moved to the liquidation area of the Tokyo Stock Exchange on Saturday.

The TSE said it will delist Snow Brand Foods on May 23.