Fosun buys 18% stake in Tsingtao Brewery

Chinese investment conglomerate Fosun International has agreed to buy a 17.99 percent stake in Tsingtao Brewery from Japanese beverage group Asahi.

Fosun announced Wednesday night that it would buy 243 million shares of Tsingtao Brewery in Hong Kong at a price of HK$27.22 per share.

The offer represents a 32 percent discount on Tsingtao Brewery's closing price of HK$40 on Wednesday.

The deal, valued at about HK$6.6 billion (US$843 million), is expected to be closed in the first quarter of 2018.

Tsingtao Brewery, based in the eastern Chinese city of Qingdao, is one of the country's oldest breweries. It sells products in more than 100 countries and regions worldwide.

Tsingtao Brewery reported 1.87 billion yuan (US$285 million) in net profits and 23.4 billion yuan in revenues in the first three quarters this year.

Fosun International rose 5.17 percent to HK$17.08 per share, while Tsingtao Brewery fell 3 percent to HK$38.80 per share by 10:55 a.m. in Hong Kong Thursday.