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March 11, 2008 |
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SAPPORO HOLDINGS: Steel Partners Ups Bid to JPY875 A Share Steel Partners Japan Strategic Fund (Offshore), L.P. has upped its offer for Sapporo Holdings Ltd., Bloomberg News reports. In its revised bid, Steel Partners raised its offer to JPY875 a share to raise its stake in the brewery to 33.3%, Bloomberg says. Steel Partners has previously offered JPY825 per share for about 66.6% stake in Sapporo Holdings. The revised bid came after Sapporo Holdings turned down Steel Partner on grounds that the deal is detrimental to stakeholders' interests. A panel formed by Sapporo to study the offer has concluded that Steel Partners is only likely to seek short-term profits. It added that the fund failed to properly outline its turnaround for the brewery. According to Bloomberg, the offer is higher that Sapporo's trading price at 2 pm on Monday. "Steel Partners wants to reach a happy middle ground," said Fumiyuki Nakanishi, an equity strategist at Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. in Tokyo told Bloomberg's Tomoko Yamazaki. "They cannot cancel the takeover offer because if they do so, the stock price will plunge, reducing the value of their holdings." About Steel Partners Japan Strategic Fund Steel Partners Japan Strategic Fund (Offshore), L.P., is a Cayman Islands-registered fund management subsidiary of Warren Lichtenstein's Steel Partners and the biggest shareholder (18.6% as of Feb. 2007) of Sapporo Holdings. It submitted a proposal to Sapporo seeking approval to raise its stake to 66.6%. About Sapporo Holdings Sapporo Holdings Limited -- http://www.sapporoholdings.jp/ -- formerly known as Sapporo Breweries, brews beer and operates more than 200 beer halls and restaurants. Sapporo is one of Japan's oldest brewers, and is Japan's third largest brewing company, with brews ranging from its flagship Black Label to the pricier Yebisu. Sapporo also makes the low-malt happoshu brew. The company sells Guinness beer in Japan through its Sapporo Guinness Company and owns a beverage company that makes canned coffee, bottled water, and soft drinks. * * * As of May 16, 2007, the company carries Standard & Poor's Rating Service's 'BB' Long-Term Foreign Issuer Credit and Long-Term Local Issuer Credit Ratings that were issued on Feb. 6, 2006; and Fitch Ratings' 'B' Short-term Foreign and Local Currency Issuer Default Ratings that were issued on March 14, 2006. |
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