hurricanemaxi
Joined: 10 Aug 2011
Posts: 120
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 Posted: Wed Dec 14, 2011 12:52 am Post subject: Asahi Plans Takeovers in Southeast Asia |
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Asahi Group Holdings Ltd. (2502) and Kirin Holdings Co. (2503), Japan’s biggest brewers, plan acquisitions across Southeast Asia to access wider margins in a market of more than half a billion people as demand at home weakens.
“We are looking at Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, the Philippines and Malaysia,” Asahi President Naoki Izumiya, 63, said in a Dec. 12 interview in Tokyo. Kirin will “consider corporate tie-ups and small-scale mergers and acquisitions in Southeast Asia,” Chief Executive Officer Senji Miyake said in an interview yesterday.
The brewers’ push into the region will give them access to markets where some rivals’ operating margins are more than double that of both Asahi and Kirin’s, as Japan’s aging population crimps demand in their home market. Asahi has spent more on acquisitions this year than any other after domestic demand for beer slumped in 2010 for a 14th straight year and the yen’s gain boosted Japanese companies’ buying power abroad.
“The Southeast Asian market is not yet dominated by one company so there are opportunities,” said Mikihiko Yamato, an analyst at JI Asia, who recommends buying Kirin shares.
Asahi has gained 7.6 percent in Tokyo trading this year, compared with an 18 percent slide for the broader Topix index. Kirin has declined 17 percent.
The yen has risen more than 7 percent against the dollar in the past year, the biggest gainer among 10 major currencies tracked by Bloomberg.
Global Ambitions
Asahi, Japan’s biggest beermaker by volume, made 6.6 percent of sales abroad last year, compared with 23.4 percent for Kirin, the biggest by market value, according to company statements. Asahi’s sales from overseas will probably increase to 10 percent this year, said Takayuki Tanaka, a spokesman for the Tokyo-based brewer.
“We want to expand our Super Dry brand and sell beer globally,” Asahi’s Izumiya said. “We can’t just cut costs. We have to increase our top line as well.”
Carlsberg A/S will produce and sell Asahi’s “Super Dry” beer in Malaysia, the Japanese brewer said in a statement yesterday.
Asahi earlier said it aimed to boost sales to 2 trillion yen to 2.5 trillion by 2015, with 20 percent to 30 percent revenue from overseas. Revenue last year was about 1.5 trillion yen.
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