By Ian Neubauer
Lion Nathan has said it expects to become a wholly owned subsidiary of Kirin Holdings over the course of the next week.
Lion posted the statement on the Australian Securities Exchange late Monday (Apr 4) afternoon, announcing it is still in the process of agreeing to the terms of a mutually satisfactory agreement with the Japanese conglomerate.
It follows an April 27 statement by the brewer that it had accepted in principal a $3.5 billion takeover bid for the remaining 54 per cent of the company Kirin does not already own.
Kirin will pay Lion shareholders $12.22 per share – a 32 per cent premium on the share price before the takeover bid was first made public on April 22.
Kirin has not released details on any operational changes it has in store for the Australian brewer.
However it has been widely reported that Lion Nathan CEO Rob Murray will take charge of Kirin’s enlarged Australian portfolio that also includes Dairy Farmers and National Foods.
Lion Nathan shares were trading at $11.63 at 2:00pm today (Apr 6).