U.S. Fund Attempts Takeover of Japanese Brewer

The U.S. fund Steel Partners is trying to takeover Sapporo Holdings, a brewery, in a friendly manner by spending 150 billion yen to boost its stake from 18% to 66.6%.

The investment firm says they are in it for the long haul and will keep the current management team.

However, if the friendly takeover is successful, market observers worry that it will unleash a round of consolidation within the booze industry to keep other companies from becoming targets.

Steel Partners expects Sapporo management to go along with the deal. However, should they not, a hostile turnover is not unlikely.

It seems that now that business is good in Japan, somebody wants in on the action…no matter what.

What do you think?