Diageo seeks to expand stake in Chinese liquor company

Diageo is seeking to increase its aggregate equity stake in China”™s Sichuan Shuijingfang Co. Ltd. from 60 percent to up to 70 percent with an offer price of approximately $6.75 per share.

The offer, which is made through Diageo”™s subsidiary Grand Metropolitan International Holdings Ltd., is the second time within a year that Diageo has sought to increase its holding in the Chinese company. Last year, Diageo successfully increased it aggregate equity stake in the company from 39.71 percent to 60 percent.

Sichuan Shuijingfang Co. is the manufacturer of the Shui Jing Fang brand of baijiu, a grain-based liquor mostly made from sorghum or rice, and the company”™s distillery is the oldest in China, operating continuously since 1408. Diageo, which is relocating its U.S. headquarters from Norwalk to Manhattan, has been distributing Shui Jing Fang”™s baijiu in this country over the past decade.