Sapporo Holdings Ltd., the Japanese brewer assessing a takeover proposal from U.S. fund Steel Partners, forecast profit to more than double this year.
Net income may be ¥12.8 billion in the year ending Dec. 31 from ¥5.51 billion last year, the company said in a Friday statement to the Tokyo Stock Exchange. That's more than the average ¥7.67 billion estimate of six analysts compiled by Bloomberg.
Top Steel Partners Japan Strategic Fund (Offshore) L.P. last year proposed increasing its stake to 66.6 percent to gain control of the Tokyo-based company, whose property assets are worth more than its beer business.
Sapporo is due to make a decision on the proposal, which values the stock at ¥825 a share.
A panel appointed by Sapporo to assess the Steel Partners proposal this month said the acquisition would hurt shareholder interests.
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