Sapporo Breweries Ltd. will try to acquire premium beer maker Sleeman Breweries Ltd. to enter the Canadian market on a full-fledged basis and strengthen operations in North America, its holding company said Saturday.
A wholly owned subsidiary to be created in Canada will try to acquire at least two-thirds and as much as 100 percent of outstanding Sleeman shares by mid-October through a public tender offer, Sapporo Holdings Ltd. said.
The per-share purchase price is set at 17.50 Canadian dollars. If a 100 percent stake is acquired, the total cost would be C$299 million, or about 30.6 billion yen.
If the new subsidiary gains two-thirds or more of outstanding Sleeman shares but fails to acquire a 100 percent stake through the proposed tender offer, it will seek to make Sleeman a wholly owned subsidiary through a merger of the two firms, the holding company said.