San Miguel closes sale of its beer unit to Kirin

MANILA, Philippines - San Miguel Corp. concluded the sale of its beer unit San Miguel Brewery Inc. to Japan's Kirin Holdings Company Ltd., chief financial officer Ferdinand K. Constantino said. In a disclosure, Constantino said San Miguel sold Friday 4.48 billion shares in San Miguel Brewery at P8.84 per share. "With the sale, San Miguel has completed the sale of its approximately 43.249 percent interest in the company to Kirin," Constantino said. In February, San Miguel signed a share purchase agreement with Kirin for P58.92 billion. The agreement also allows Kirin, San Miguel and San Miguel Brewery to negotiate exclusively for San Miguel Brewery's potential purchase of shares in San Miguel's overseas beer business. The exclusivity period is for six months following San Miguel's offer to sell the shares in its overseas beer business.-Ruby Anne M. Rubio, GMANews.TV