The company said in a regulatory filing that it will sell Jinro Inc. by issuing new shares and allocating them to a third party. It gave no details.
Market watchers said Hite Jinro may sell off 49 percent of its stake in the subsidiary for $156 million (about 170 billion won). It currently owns 100 percent or 4,000 shares of the subsidiary.
According to industry sources, Hite Jinro takes up some 40 percent and 50 percent of Korea’s beer market and soju (distilled liquor) market, respectively.
Its exports totaled $68.2 million in the first half of this year, up 2.7 percent from a year earlier. Sales in Japan reached $52.9 million in the January-June period.
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com